Forever My Protecters: SilverStained Tears
by The Outsiders EXPERT-101
Summary: Sequel to Forever My Protecters, leaving off from the end of chapter seven. I'M COMING OUT WITH ANOTHER STORY CALLED "MY EMOTIVE ADJUST" DEDICATED TO BELLAVISION!
1. the beginning

**Sometimes, in life, you don't always recieve the things that you deserve. But that's the way it is. "Like it or lump it".**

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PONY'S POV

I don't remember a considerable amount of time after the kidnapping incident had come close to its end. Just the fact that it took a while until the doctors said that I was able to get out of the hospital. I remember the rest of this story quite well, actually... the beginning, the middle, the ending(sort of), which, to be honest with you, was a little too 'And they lived happily ever after...', so I don't ever really think twice about that part; because I know that it was a happy ending. What story doesn't have a happy ending? Besides, that was thirteen years ago. I'm older now... and one of the strongest althetes in the school. So, I don't think anyone could ever try to kidnap me! And I got Darry, Soda, the gang, and George. Yes, George is a part of the gang now; I think the gang liked him from the start, but he was pretty shy and nervous when he first started hangin' around them. Maybe the fact that he helped kidnap me contributed to that, but oh well. Now, he's married to this girl, Elizabeth, and has a kid of his own. Cute, adorable little tyke. He's got sandy blonde hair, like Elizabeth, but you could definitely tell that he's got the muddy brown eyes that his dad has. He's about five or six years old now.

Elizabeth is beautiful and intelligent. She's only about 5' 4", and thin, but she's really cool, and never really does pay attention to her height; she's pretty short compared to George and the rest of the gang. Her hair, like Kenneth's (the baby), is sandy blonde with hints of dark brown hair underneath and curls at the tips to form random ringlets (which of course, only makes her hair look even more stunning). She's got eyes a lot like Darry's except hers are more lighter and brighter. Her and George were practically made for each other. She can really make George laugh without trying that hard and normally he's unmoved by Two-Bit's many random jokes at two o' clock in the morning. Then again maybe it's because he normally puts his baby asleep(and falls asleep with him) at around ten o' clock.

George and Elizabeth met up at the Dingo seven years ago. Elizabeth had just broke up with her boyfriend who had apparently been cheating on her and two of his other former "girlfriends"; those kind of people make me sick with shame, especially when they're the same gender as I am. When she saw George she said she had felt something that she had never ever felt before. It was as if something told her that he was the one. George said that he couldn't stop staring at her through the two movies that he had stayed to "watch" .

Soda is still his old, happy-go-lucky self. He looks as if he's only aged three or four years, not thirteen; he's still got the soft, wheat-gold hair, and styles it the same way, too. He's grown maybe two inches, but that's it. I still make fun of him for it, since I'm about an inch away from being as tall as he is; but he just goes along with it and laughs his deep, hearty laugh. His wife, Charlotte, she's one of the nicest and classiest girls I've ever met before. She's got this petite side to her that she uses for first impressions and important events, but don't let that fool you. When she has to, she'll rip your arm off in a heartbeat, and she's got this tone of voice she sets aside only for when she's hacked off at you for some odd reason. One time, Steve forgot to close the refrigerator, so she marched over to his house at five o' clock in the morning just to yell at him and marched right back. Steve's house was 5 miles away, mind you. And also, Soda, Darry, and I had gone to bed about three hours before that. Yet we were awakened from her screams and threats; "YOU EVER LEAVE OUR HOUSE RUNNIN' THE COLD - AIR IN THE HOUSE, IMMA COME RIGHT BACK AND SLAP YOU LEFT AND RIGHT!" was all I needed to catch to know that it was Charlotte. I had laughed myself to sleep listening to her talk forty miles a minute to Soda about what she was going to do to Steve in the morning. Luckily her sleep had postponed her plans the following morning.

It was a pretty funny story how he met Charlotte. She was actually an intern at the resteraunt Two-Bit's mom was working at. She always had that kick in her step which was what drew Soda to her. And because Soda had that movie-star look, it wasn't that hard for Charlotte to recognize him either. Well, that and the fact that he spilled two cokes on her. Which one attracted her to him, no one knows!

Soda's little baby girl, Suzette, she's pretty cute. Her name was made to combine SODA and CHARLOTTE together. She's about seven years old, but I'm not bothered from the fact that being her uncle, I'm only seven years older than she is. She aint bothered by that either. She's got Charlotte's fiery-red, long hair. She's so small for seven, but so was Soda so I'm not surprised. She's picked up her mother's habits for yelling at any one of the gang that forgets something or does something a bit rude or embarrassing. But besides that, she's pretty nice. A little on the shy side though; but being around a bunch of boys, she'll probably grow out of that in no time. Plus, her mother is her biggest romodel, so following her actions around the gang, every bit of shyness in her system will disappear anyways.

Darry, well, let's just say that when he finally married everyone was relieved. His spouse, Bridget, she's probably the most strangest and wierdest girls I know. She's just four inches shorter than Darry, and she's got shoulder-length, dark-brown, wavy hair. Her eyes are almost as dark as Johnny's but in the light, you could see the slight brown pigment in them. She's got this detirmined set to her, like Darry(which is ironic), and she really does run the house when she's here. She's so weird, yet everything she says seems to sound so... well, so cool. She knows everything pretty well, and isn't really all that smart (not as smart as Darry, anyways), but there's this way she has that she uses to beat Darry at everything that comes up. Everyone, especially Two-Bit, thinks that it's real funny to watch her prove Darry's theories wrong. Sometimes they fight, but they always make up. I didn't really get that, so one time I asked them why they always fought when they were going to make up anyways. Bridget said that only true couples fight sometimes, because it meant that they had their own opinions still and didn't change themselves completely just for love. She said that when you married, you were allowed to fight sometimes, and that her and Darry still loved each other very much so. Darry agreed with her, and told me to run along after that. He's still got that muscular look to him, but his eyes had changed since mom and dad died. For as long as I could really remember, Darry had this invisible, bitter side to him that I could sometimes see; now, he seems content with the world, and laughs all the time. I'm real happy that he's this way now, not the way he used to be.

Darry's got a son and a daughter; twins, actually. His son, Jerrod, is about eleven years old, and has an everlasting love for two things: football and his family; he probably got that from Darry, since he loves me, Soda, and the gang(and the girls) and, of course, football. Jerrod looks exactly like Darry, but has Bridget's eyes, which makes him look just like dad, Darry said. He's energetic and loves to talk a lot. Darry thinks that he got that part of his personality from Bridget, since she always seems to tell us stories about her life and family. He loves to hang with the gang and especially his dad. He'd always throw a fit if he wasn't on Darry's team when it came to saturday's gang football games. He's getting to be pretty tall, which I kind of figured since both Bridget and Darry are pretty tall for their own genders. I love Jerrod, who likes to come to every track meet I have, even if it's only practice. He's a pretty awesome little guy.

Darry's daughter, Jerilyn, she's a sweet little girl, and loves to shadow Bridget when she's walking around the house doing chores or grocery shopping. Of course, she's the spittin' image of dad too, but her hair is real long, almost all the way down to her waist, which she mostly keeps it up. When she was five, she used to always put it up in ponytails and wear these little dresses. She loved to skip around and would never leave Darry's side. She's so cute! Plus, she likes to hang around Suzette. The only other person she trusts to keep herself safe besides Darry and Bridget is me. I feel so special. When Darry and the gang went somewhere to settle business (with socs) and Bridget went out with Charlotte and the other girls for a girls night out, I was always happy to baby sit everybody. The girls were all civilized anyways and were always interested in my homework. Jerrod and Two-Bit's boy, Chip, were both always rambunctious and sometimes rebellious to what I always said to them. But everytime I mentioned the fact that Darry was my brother, they always seemed to hush up a little.

Darry met Bridget at the high school I currently attend. Darry was there to pick up a couple things since Soda had dropped out by then and left some things. Bridget was a student teacher at the time and it's real funny because she was the student teacher to my current history teacher, Mr. Kavin, and he was truly shocked to hear I was related to her. Of course she was known as Ms. Skyler then and she really didn't have that much of an education before she started her work as a student teacher- she told me the whole story when I was eight. She said that when she saw Darry it was like he was the only thing in the room- and he was glowing. It was love at first sight. Darry claims he got lost and happened upon the room but he later admitted to the fact at seeing Bridget; when he saw her he just had to meet her or else he'd practically die.

Two-Bit's still got that caring, funny, and understanding trait to him that he always seems to punch into his jokes. Yes, he still cracks one every time he's inspired or everytime he thinks it'll lighten the mood; it always finds a way to lighten the mood. He married this girl, Setsuko, who was originally a japanese transfer for the U in downtown Oklahoma City. She set her mind on staying only for a couple months(seeing as how she had never been so far away from her home before), but after meeting Two-Bit she decided to stay permanently. They have two sons, Chip (who's real name is Hachirou) who's only four, and his older brother, who's eight, Zenshiro; he just goes by Zen. Zen's got Two-Bit's hair, but Setsuko's radient skin and eyes. He's picked up his father's habit of making up jokes on the spot, yet has his mother's squeaky laugh. Being the eight-year-old that he is, he's got some of his own things like the fact that he loves to play pretend, especially when dragons are involved; he also loves poetry, both writing it and reading it.

Chip has got his mother's soft black hair, but the rest of his looks are from Two-Bit. He's always quiet, except for when he's around Jerrod. He's always happy and energetic whenever he gets to hang around with one of his biggest romodels. Jerrod always seemed to set the hyper bomb off in little Chip whenever they're together. I thought that it was pretty cute that they were best buds like that.

Johnny Cade... Let me just say that the girl he chose to get into a relationship with was the perfect match for him; I do mean it literally when I say that she and him are a perfect match. Clarissa has really thick and curly strawberry-blonde hair. She wears glasses and has the most 'kindest laugh and perfect smile' as Johnny put it. She's small, but has a lot of energy in herself. She, like Bridget (both of which are best friends), loves to talk tremendously and is very outgoing. She's religious about nature and hiking. There's so many things I really didn't get about her, but somehow I love her just I did Bridget, Setsuko, Charlotte, Elizabeth and Kendall(Steve's rock greaser wife). Clarissa could be thoughtful and share her most innermost feelings with you one minute, and be blazing with excitement while screaming her head off the next. She's taught Johnny how to talk regularly again, and now he's gotten more and more comfortable around everybody. One time, he slapped Two-Bit for telling him this really embarrassing joke. It was real funny because then Clarissa and Bridget started laughing real hard while Jerilyn and Zen both started making fun of Two-Bit.

Johnny and Clarissa's little baby boy, Jett, is only three years old. He's the most adorable little thing! He's also very sensitive and clingy. He looks just like Johnny, which makes him so adorable! Since the gang and I have never seen baby pictures of Johnny, it was definitely something to "ooo..." and "aw..." over. Clarissa is two months pregnant with another baby boy. Jett loves to hang onto people's pants to stand upright; especially Clarissa's, but she's the mom so it isn't all that new. He can walk but he's still too used to crawling; he also loves to suck on his thumb and sneeze. He has the most cutest sneeze in the world, and I know I sound like such a girl, but I really do mean it! I've heard many baby sneezes and I've never heard one so small and cute like Jett's. Johnny LOVES to play with Jett after coming home from work. I go over to his house to play along as well; after all, his house is only about a block away from mine. Clarissa's always cooking up something eccentric and delicious everytime I come over. She is an AMAZING cook, as well as Johnny. Apparently no one knew that Johnny could cook so well until Clarissa came along and 'brought the talent out of him'.

When Johnny met Clarissa at the DX, it was pretty funny to watch him stutter over every word to her; he was filling in for Steve, who was busted up from a rumble the recent night. The gang were all snickering as Johnnycake fumbled with everything: the gas nozzle, the windshield wiper to clean the windshield of her car, and even her card. He must've dropped her card about ten times. Clarissa just giggled and waited patiently for him to get everything correct. Afterwards, she just pulled over, parked her car, and got out. She began talking to Johnny, and you could see he was extremely uncomfortable with talking to her. But he suddenly got into it and before we knew it, she gave him a small piece of paper out of her bag and left with a big smile on her face. It had her number on it. And that was the beginning of their beautiful relationship.

Ah Steve. He's changed a lot over the years that he's known me, and let me just say one word; CRAP. He used to have this hidden hate for me that he unleashes only when Soda is a little hacked at me for something. But now that he's older and more mature about everything(also being back from the Vietnam war including Soda), he's warmed up to me. Again, I feel special. He doesn't mind when I tag along with him and Soda on hangout nights. A lot of the times, he'll talk to me and include me in the conversations that he and Soda have. I know Soda's relieved about it. I told him about how I had this weird feeling that Steve hated me, and he grew worried. But now, there was nothing to worry about. Because everything was just fine.

Steve got married about a year after coming back from war; whereas Soda hadn't met Charlotte until a while after he came back. Steve's wife, Kendall, if I could describe her with five words they'd be: spicy, sassy, understanding, independent, and GREASY(there's a reason I capitalized all the letters in the word). She was just like Charlotte, except on a higher level. She was probably one of the number one greasiest girls in the niehgborhood too; she's got white-blonde streaks in her black shoulder-length hair. She always puts it up in a high ponytail and has a small pompadour in the front that highlights the white-blonde streak in her hair. She's got these dark navy blue eyes that sparkle in the sunlight. She understands everything, and offers the best advice. Though I don't see her that often, seeing as how their house is far away, it isn't very often I get usable advice that's really effective. She's about 5' , and loves to wear short skirts. But that's just her.

Steve's little girl, Ofira, she's pretty cool too. We just call her Fire, though. She looks just like Steve, and keeps her hair up in a tight ponytail with a pomp, just like Kendall. She loves to pull pranks on Two-Bit (the prankSTER) and eats lettuce like it was a plate of chocolate chip cookies. She's about thirteen, so she and I hang around each other when we can. She says I'm the only real friend she's ever had, and that I was "digable". She and I told each other lots of things that we could never really tell the gang or anyone, such as the fact that she's crushin on the school hearthrob, Thomas Smith. He's got blue eyes and blonde hair that turns to gold when he's outside on a cloudless day. I can see why she likes him; he's a pretty hot looking soc. The thing is, she HATES socs. Just like her parents. I didn't like them either, seeing as how one kidnapped me and dragged his younger brother into it. George was the only soc I liked, and I was fine with just that.

And last but not least, Dallas Winston. Being his age, he's a law-breaking delinquent prodigy. He's been thrown in jail about thirty times JUST for slapping a cop (and that was all just for kicks or on a dare). He's been to jail about sixty four times just in general! He's even got a record for having the most POLICE RECORDS! (how you could have more than 1, I really have no idea). He's grown to be a little bit more mature than he was back when, but besides the aging process and the rule-breaking, he hasn't changed a bit. Dally's wife, Serenity, she's a definite greaser all right, just like Kendall. I don't really like her, and she's pretty disgusting when it comes to her and Dally, but you know, not every couple you meet will make you like them. She's got medium brown hair (which she never fully combs all the way) and she's so heavy on the eyeliner and lipstick. But I guess she does that to make her hazel eyes pop out. She's about Elizabeth's height, and chews bubble gum like it was a regular meal. Like I said, I didn't really like her, but at least she wasn't as nasty as other girls I've met.

Dally's little girl, Zoe, is about five years old, Kenneth's age, and takes after Serenity's physical appearance. You could tell she was going to be more like Dally when she grows up because already she's a master pick-pocket. She always gives whatever it was that she stole back to the original owner, but sometimes she uses it a little before doing so. She scares me just a tad, but she's always liked me(or that's what Dally and Serenity keep saying) so I'm somewhat comforted at that fact.

There has been so many changes since my parents died. For starters, everyone got married (no duh), which meant that there would be some major housing arrangements. Darry was able to quit one of his jobs and start another for this teaching gig; his pay is way more than what anyone I've ever known has made from thier job. This means that he was able to pay off the mortgage for two months at a time and still have money left over. So, with the help of his roofing buddies from his first job, he was able to pull some strings and add on a second level to our original house. Though it's much more than what him or his co-workers have ever done, there were some people experienced in adding on levels to houses. Sure, it took all the extra money he's made, but it was well worth it. Now, his family is living there, along with Soda's and me. Soda's family occupied the second level, which has two rooms and a bathroom upstairs. Darry's family live in the bottom floor, Darry and Bridget occupying what used to be mom and dad's room, Jerrod and Jerilyn occupying Soda's room, and me getting my room all to myself again. My nightmares disappeared about a year ago, and that's the longest that it's ever been gone for, so Soda started sleeping with Charlotte in their room just to see what would happen. My nightmares didn't come back still. And everyone was grateful for that. Even Steve.

Two-Bit's house was right next door, where Jerrod, Chip, and Zen hung out every single day after school was over. Johnny's house was a block away (like I said), and Dally's house was a block from Johnny's. So we technically still live close together and get to hang out as much as possible.

Everything was all jim and dandy until saturday morning. That was when everything started going a bit, well, chaotic.

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**Sorry I had to retype one paragraph in this thing because it must've been way too confusing for you guys to comprehend! So, here it is, fixed and hopefully making more sense than it did! :)**


	2. my forewarnings

**SATURDAY: 3 AM, PONBOY'S BEDROOM**

My eyes flew opened and I sat up immediately, my heart pounding in my chest harder than ever; sweat trickling down the left side of my face. My body was shaking real bad.

"DARRY!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. All of a sudden, I felt my eyes go wider than ever. Dark shadows were cast upon the walls of my room, making figures walk along them. I felt my whole body turn ice cold as one of the figures seemed to turn and notice me in my bed; I was terrified more than ever. The figure started walking slowly towards me and I screamed even louder for Darry to come; but that didn't stop it. I could hear whispers run through my ears, both off from a distance and up close.

_We're coming to get you, Ponyboy!_

_You can't hide for long in your own home..._

_Darry and Soda can't save you anymore from us, Pony..._

_We'll always find another way._

_the clock is ticking Pone... tick tock tick tock..._

_He'll come for you soon enough and when he does that- you'll be gone..._

Then, I felt something cold and rough grab ahold of me. I was on the floor, somehow.

"NO!" I shrieked. I was kicking and screaming even louder as the figure in the dark seemed to tighten its grip on my leg. I thought I had kicked something...

"DARRY! SODA! ANYBODY, HELP ME!" another figure tightened its cold fingers firmly around my wrists, which made it even harder to escape. My mind felt groggy, and that fact contributed to my lack of strength for getting away.

"JERROD! JERILYN! GO TO BED NOW! SODA, STOP! LET HIM GO, YOU'RE MAKING IT WORSE!" one of the figures yelled. The hands at my wrists let go instantly, and I turned on my stomach and started to crawl away. I felt myself being picked up, and I finally started wondering why the figure told Soda to let me go... and how it knew Jerrod and Jerilyn, now that I'm thinking a bit more clearly. I stopped struggling, and let myself go limp, thinking foolishly that maybe I could trick the figure into thinking I fell back to sleep again; the majority of my mind was still convinced that the figure was very much alive and real.

"Pony? PONYBOY!" I heard a familiar voice yell, flipping me over quickly and cradling me in their arms. This time, I felt my eyes open. The light was blinding, but it wasn't so much that I couldn't see who it was that was holding me or who the voices really belonged to. I could faintly make out Soda, who was holding me, and Darry who seemed to be hovering over me as well. Bridget and Charlotte were soon there as well, and for the first time, Charlotte looked more worried than ever; I had never seen her look that way before. Soda started stroking my hair, letting out a somewhat relieved sigh, as Darry started to talk to me in a hushed tone. I had kind of listened to what he was saying, but like my eyes, my mind wandered off into space, letting the nothingness and sleep occupy it.

"... Hon, could you get a glass of water and a damp rag for him...?" Darry said in a low voice to Bridget, not taking his eyes off of me.

"Shh... it's okay Pony, we're here now... we're here..." Soda whispered, holding me upward and hugging me tighter. I guess I hadn't realized I was mumbling things- well, when I wasn't screaming out loud. _How long had I been doing that?_, I thought, a little embarrassed.

"Daddy? ... " I heard a sweet little Suzette ask softly. She was standing in the doorway, her hair in two cute little red pig-tails, wearing one of Charlotte's pink shirts as pajamas.

"Charlotte..." his voice sounded a bit hard, but Soda's look gave a reassurance to both Charlotte and Suzi that he was too occupied and worried with me right now.

"Come here, Suzi-Q..." Charlotte said after a couple seconds. I watched her pick Suzette up, but Suzi never took her big, scared eyes off of me; her and Darry started to creep me out just a little bit with all their staring.

"Is uncle gonna be okay?" I heard Suzi ask in a timid voice, her voice starting to fade away.

"He's just fine, Suze..." that was the last thing I heard from those two that night.

"Here..." Bridget said tiredly, entering through my doorway as soon as the other two left. She gave Darry the rag, and he gently swabbed my forehead; I guess I was sweating more than I thought I had. I was still shaking just slightly, which made Soda tighten his grip on me further more. Afterwards, Soda propped me up and Darry put the cold glass up to my quivering lips; I drank real slowly, quite frightened from everything around me. I swear I could've still seen the figure on the wall still watching me. I stopped drinking immediately as soon as I saw something move out of the corner of my eye and struggled again. Fear struck me like lightning and I started going berserk.

"NO! NO! NO!" I yelled in a shrill voice. Everything started going weird and I could clearly see the figure again; this time, it was more clear than I had ever seen, and it was standing outside my window watching in. It was as dark as I had seen it in my room earlier, but this time I noticed features I hadn't noticed the last time; a dark, long cloak, with a hood that covered it's face. A cold and intensive chill ran up my spine. I could still see his eyes; yes, his eyes somehow were still able to pentrate me through the thickness of the dirty glass fixed between a cutout in my bedroom wall. It was still some distance away from it, but I could still see it and it became more vital to me than anything ever has come before.

"Oh -!" Soda cried out, trying to hold me down. Everybody started going crazy, ten seconds after I had started. Bridget ran out of the room, probably to go and check to see if the other little kids were all right and asleep. Darry and Soda were both grimacing and yelling at each other, too fast for me to comprehend. And to tell you the truth, that only made me more and more scared and confused.

"HE'S GONNA KILL ME!" I screamed. I repeated it over and over again, even after Soda had handed me over to Darry, of which who had much more strength than Soda did.

"Shh... Pony! PONYBOY- everything's gonna just fine, ya hear me? Listen- PONY LISTEN TO ME!" Darry said, struggling to pronunciate his words over my wriggling and outbursts. I went very still, but every muscle in my body was tightened, and my teeth were clenched so hard, it was a wonder I didn't break any of my teeth; my grip on Darry's arm (which was across my chest trying to hold me down) must've really been painful for him, seeing as how I couldn't even feel my fingertips at all from how hard I was pressing my nails into his skin.

"Now, I want you to just calm down, Pony... just breathe in and out..." Darry whispered softly in my ear, stroking my hair with his free, and not permanently marked, hand. I did as he told. As much as that had helped, my mind was still wrapped tightly around the ominous figure. I let myself sink into Darry after telling myself many times that the figure was all just an illusion; that I was only dreaming it, and I was half asleep. It was pretty possible, and the most reasonable suggestion, that I was half asleep and wasn't fully awake. I heard Soda give out a sigh of relief and Bridget had to grip the edge of my dresser drawer to stop herself from dropping to the floor(out of fright probably). I, nor have Darry or Soda, have never had such a strange and frightening dream like that before. Knowing that scared me beyond words, and I sat there quietly in Darry's lap, falling asleep from being too restless.

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I couldn't remember when I had finally fallen asleep, listening to Darry and Soda pour out their worries and strife to each other in whispers while stroking my hair and rocking me back and forth. All I knew was that when I woke up, it wasn't because of Darry, Soda OR Suzette (who normally wakes me up every morning, staring at me with her big laughing eyes while giggling at the side of my bed).

**SATURDAY-7:54 AM, PONYBOY'S BEDROOM**

It was as if someone had jerked me awake, and I responded to the rude awakening the same way that they had woken me up(if they did wake me up); I sat up in my bed straight away. The room seemed to be spinning around me in a big white swirl, and I planted my hands firmly on the bed to keep myself from falling back down on the bed. I looked to the blinds, making a careless observation of the small dull light that was pouring through them. It was then that I noticed Soda sleeping like a rock under the covers next to me. I gasped at first, but luckily I was able to swallow the rest of the gasp to keep him from waking up. It had been a long time since Soda had last slept with me. He looked peaceful, but still real tired(and real young as well). _Was I really THAT bad?,_ I asked myself, thinking little of what had happened earlier that morning. After talking with myself and I about the question I thought about, I got up, trudged to my dresser to grab clothes and then went to take a shower.

I felt warm and content with myself as I entered the front. It was unusually clean, but it had been that way since someone tried to rob our house a couple weeks ago. Two-Bit saw it, and thank goodness for him, or else the robber would've gotten away with a LOT of money. Bridget and Darry normally kept a lot of money in their wallets, and Bridget left hers at the house at that time; the robber had her's and Jerrod's wallet, and had Charlotte's bank card(and Charlotte had A WHOLE MESS of money in her account). When the police arrested the robber, Two-Bit was real proud of himself, and so was everyone else. So, we locked the door after that, and the windows as well. The gang was just going to have to knock if they wanted to get in. The coffee table had a couple of Charlotte's magazines on them and also one of Suzettes dolls. I could see my backpack still on the table, along with a couple of the bills as well. I chuckled as I picked up one of Jett's toy trucks from off the couch and occupied it's spot. I pulled the blinds up and smiled at the sun as its golden rays were brightening up the once dull-blue light. I sighed.

"So beautiful..." I whispered.

"Yeah... it is," I heard someone say. I gasped (yet again) and turned around to see who else was in the room. There stood Bridget, wearing one of Darry's plaid shirts and a pair of jeans(her hair was a little messy, but she always kept it that way; she said that it only made her look better). To be honest, she seemed a little startled too. I closed my eyes briefly for a moment to calm my beating heart. I smiled yet again, and opened my eyes.

"Hey... didn't uh-" I cleared my throat, "-didn't hear you come in..."

"Oh... sorry... just wondered who was out here that's all!" She said in a fervent voice, shrugging her shoulders and smiling radiently. She looked around a bit, and I coughed in the awkward silence. After sitting there for a minute, Bridget turned and ran into the kitchen, whistling merrily.

"What would you like for breakfast, Mr. first-one-up-this-morning?" She called out after she ran into the kitchen. I could hear the rusty sound of the refrigerator being opened up and the gas stove being turned on.

"Uh... just a couple of eggs, I guess..." I said, knowing that I wasn't all that hungry; she knew that.

"Hard, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Mmkay, if that's all ya want then!" she singsonged in one of her unusual tunes, ending this one in an unnatural high C. I burst into laughter, like I always did. She was always happy and hyper on saturday mornings, but I knew why she was especially happy that morning. I didn't really mind though. I heard a door open and close, and I smiled, knowing who was up, just by the way the open and the close of the door had echoed out of the hallway. I took it upon myself to memorize how every door opened and could tell a slight difference when each one did so. It was how I got away with avoiding Charlotte when she needed me to help her change one of Suzi's diapers or Darry when he needed a chore done (but don't tell them I said that!).

"Hey! Good morning Ponyboy!" Soda practically shouted as he stepped out of the hallway, his hair freshly greased, wearing his favorite shirt and wheat jeans. I got up and ran over to give him a hug.

"You okay, Pone?" He asked in a soft voice, noticing, like I had, that others started to enter the room as well.

"Mmm..." I hummed, hoping that Soda would get that I didn't really want to talk about my nightmare. Luckily for me, Soda got the message; messing up my hair he went to the kitchen to give Bridget her morning hug. I turned around, when I heard a whole bunch of youthful gasps and giggles coming up behind me.

"PONYBOY! Hey, YOU'RE OKAY! PONEEE!" I turned back around, only to be wrestled to the ground with hugs from Suzette, Jerrod and Jerrilyn.

"Man, Pony, you okay?" Jerrod asked, using a tone I knew all too well; he definitely was Darry's son. I just nodded my head and was about to answer properly, but keep in mind, there were still two others wanting to know if I was alright. I high-fived his hand as he put it up in the air, letting him know that I was fine since I couldn't quite answer it the way I wanted to.

"PONYBOY! You had me scared so MUCH! " Jerrilyn said in relief, laughing and hugging me a little too tightly."I WAS ABOUT TO CALL 911 ON YA! Man..." knowing that police could've have been involved with my petty nightmares, I shuddered just a bit; not only out of embarrassment but out of shame as well. I knew a couple of the police officers, and I was supposed to be a strong and growing fourteen-year-old man, if you know what I mean. It wasn't exactly the kind of thing I wanted official authority figures to deal with, much less really know about. I could feel sweet little Suzi making her way up to me. As soon as I was able to sit up, I could feel Suzi throwing her arms around me and giving me a small peck on my cheek.

"Hey, Suzi!" I said a little wierdly(I always felt that way when Darry or Soda or anyone for that matter gave me a kiss on the top of my head or something). I felt myself go a little red, but I gave them all the biggest grin I had and hugged them all back and told them I was fine. Suzi was quite content on me holding her, so that's what I did for the next couple of minutes, until Charlotte came down calling for her.

"SUZETTE CAROLINE-" Charlotte yelled until she saw me holding her. She perked up and smiled gently.

"Sorry..." I said a little sheepishly, putting Suzi down and looking at the ground. There was sizzling and laughter in the background. Next thing I knew, Charlotte pulled me in for a hug as well. I was getting used to this all, even though I knew the reason why.

"There's nothing to be sorry for, Ponyboy," Charlotte said. She then left, telling Suzette how much she needed to change quickly. I sighed. _I've seen everyone now except-_, my thought was interrupted, but answered, when Darry came into the room.

"YEAH RIGHT AND MAYBE CHAR HERE SHOULD GROW AN AFRO!" Darry called out laughing harder than ever. A shoe came out of nowhere and nailed Darry right in the gut, and I could hear Bridget laughing so hard in the kitchen along with Jerrilyn and Jerrod.

"YOU JUST GOT PONED DAD!" I heard Jerrod yell out in between chortles of laughter.

"Teach you to tell me I should get an afro..." I heard Charlotte mutter between giggles. Darry was still rubbing his stomach, chuckling to himself while making his way over to me. My side was hurting from laughing too hard, even though I didn't get what the whole conversation was about, but the part I came in at was pretty hilarious. I sighed at the relief I was getting from my less-aching side, wiping a tear from my face. I finally had the courage to look up at my older brother after that little charade, but finding that it would only make me laugh harder, I looked back down again and supported myself on one knee to keep from falling over. I was laughing up a storm when Darry gave me a great bear hug, like he always did. It lasted for a while, then the door bell rang, and Darry let go to see who it was. We never really spoke much when I had nightmares, but hugging was his way of telling me that he was glad I was okay. Darry opened the door.

"HEY JOHNNYCAKE!" Darry cried out in happiness, moving out of the way for Johnny and Clarissa to come in.

"Hey!" Darry said to Clarissa, giving her a short welcoming hug, trying not to squish a cranky and tired-looking Jett hitched on her hip.

"NO!" Jett squealed, pushing Darry away, probably thinking that Darry was trying to hug him, not her.

"Jett... It's okay! It's okay!" Claire(Clarissa's shortened name that we use a lot) kept telling Jett over and over again. Darry just smiled and roughed up Jett's hair; Jett smiled a little, knowing that Darry knew that he liked it when people roughed up his hair or touched his hair in any way.

"Aw, heck you're an okay kid Jett, ya know that?" Darry said to Jett. Jett looked at him, then buried his face into Claire's chest. Claire just smiled and sighed, then turning to Johnny she said, "Could you take him, hon?". She handed Jett over to his father.

"Hi Mrs. Cade..." I said politely, remembering Darry's long lecture about how it isn't nice to call adults by their first name. I hate those types of rules...

"Pony when will you EVER stop calling me that?" she said sarcastically, giving Darry a look that said, _Your parenting is going to smother him someday_. I snickered and said,

'Well, CLAIRE, I think that you, CLAIRE CHRISTINE CADE, have a lovely name. I like the name CLAIRE, and I'm glad that you, CLARISSA, own such a pretty name like CLAIRE! But the boss said that I can't call adults, such as you, CLAIRE, by their first names, CLAIRE," I spat in Darry's direction as he was about to tell Claire something pretty sarcastic. Darry turned to me with wide bulging eyes and opened his mouth when...

"Don't do that babe your brothers gonna burn from your laser-vision if ya keep it up any longer!" Bridget said, biting out of an apple while closing Darry's mouth. I bit my lip harder than ever to keep from laughing as I watched Bridget briskly walk out the door and to the car._Glory hallelujah for Bridget! _Darry seemed pretty surprised at her and you could tell he was deciding on whether or not he should kill me now or later, but after a moment's hesitation he sighed and followed Bridget out to the car mumbling underneath his breath. I felt all the tension in my chest leave me as I breathed a sigh of relief.

"You're a funny little boy, Pony!" Claire said between giggles as she made her way towards Johnny, who had moved to the kitchen to get some food before work started. "JONATHAN!" her voice faded as she disappeared behind the one wall that seperated the living room and the kitchen. _Wow, _I thought, _Now that they're here all we need is for_- someone knocked at the door yet again, interrupting my thought process.

"I'LL GET IT!" I screamed before turning the knob. It was George. I broke out into a huge grin. "GEORGE!"

"Well, hey there frog eyes!" He said before squeezing through the door to get past me, since he knew what my response would be; he was too slow and I punched him fiercely in the arm while saying, "they aint green they're gray!"

"YA YA- it's the same everytime! Haha! Anyways, where's Darrel and Soda? I gotta talk to them about somethin'-"

"Is it about how you're a hobo? Because that shirt looks like crap fell from the sky and all on you!" George looked at his shirt, aghast. I rolled my eyes and called for Soda to come.

"You little sonofagun..." George said, smiling a little as Soda came into the room. He still had a mouthful of breakfast and some crumbs that settled just around his mouth. I pulled out a hankerchief and handed it to him before briskly walking outside. I had completely forgotten about checking the mail. I mean, I know that Darry or Bridget could've gotten it and left it on the coffee table before leaving for work, but they always left it for me to get since I like to look at who's sent us what and why; it's a great way to keep yourself up-to-date on a lot of things.

* * *

"Higher! HIGHER!" Suzi shrieked. I laughed and granted her wish of swinging to the sky. Charlotte always told me to be careful with her whenever we went to the park- but I had to weave some fun into this or else safety regulations and rules would choke both of us to death. Besides, what are you going to do with your life if you're not going to take some risks?

Suzi ran around the park, talking to other little kids and laughing as I sat there eating an apple I found in the cupboard. The sun was shining brighter than ever, the wind blowing mildly at my face. It was real nice out, and I cherished these types of days. I guess I was just that different from other boys; other boys found joy in football and doing dares- I find joy in running my heart out in track and helping little kids do their homework. I just wanted the best for them. But oh well, I guess that's just the way things are.

I watched little Suzette play on the monkey bars when all of a sudden I felt a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach. I turned around and there was Darry and Soda. They both were watching me intently, but unlike this morning durign breakfast, they looked more worried. I didn't get it at that time. I smiled and waved to them before getting up and running over to pick Suzi up.

"huh?" Suzi asked as I hitched her on my waist.

"Look! It's daddy!" I said, pointing over to Soda. Suzi squeeled and I put her down; she was in Soda's arm in nothing more than a millisecond and everybody's facial expression looked a bit more relaxed than it was the second before. I quickly ran over to the trash can to throw away my trash- and the voices began.

_he's out..._

_you better run while you still can..._

_they know..._

_there's nothing they can do..._

_won't be long now..._

I stopped right in my tracks and felt the sweat roll down the side of my face. I was gripping my apple in my hand as I listened to the voices merge with each other.

"Stop..." I whispered weakly.

_they can't save you..._

_You'll have no where to go..._

_no where to hide, Ponyboy..._

"STOP..." I said again, this time louder. My chest felt like it was caving in.

_death is your only option..._

_inbetween two worlds..._

_you're specially chosen..._

_he wants you and only you..._

_he will stop at nothing to get his revenge..._

I clamped both of my hands on my ears and dropped to my knees. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" I kept screaming. The voices died away, and I opened my eyes. Everyone at the park was staring at me, and some adults were pulling the children closest to me, away from me. Darry was right there behind me, rubbing my back. Soda was helping me up, Suzi too, and Darry told everybody that the heat got to me sometimes. _What just happened?, _was the only question that ran through my head as we drove home, the AC at full blast.


	3. Mistakes and Make ups

"Ponyboy- what happened back there?" Soda asked as we pulled along the curb to our house. The AC felt real nice against my skin- maybe it was the heat that got to me- I HOPE it was the heat getting to me. Doc did say that it could be because of severe weather conditions that my nightmares had occured- had to do with the heat getting to my head, creating an unrealistic atmosphere that my mind lived in at times. It took me a while to realize that he was talking to me. Suzi had gotten out and ran inside gleefully to greet Jerilyn and Jerrod. Darry and Soda stayed sitting in the front, sitting with perfect posture waiting for me to answer.

"Uh..." was all I could say. I didn't know how to describe the voices. They were like flittering words of a ghost being caught in the wind- they weren't very clear, but they warned me, and there wasn't a mouth(or a person for that matter) to be coming from. How was I supposed to tell them that? They'd probably take me to an asylum if they were in their right minds. And the voices were in my nightmare this morning- even more of a reason to put me in a place where the insane go even more insane. Was I really going crazy, or was it something else? I shook my head. I guess my brothers were wondering about it too because Soda repeated the question, this time more firmer, stressing out the word 'happened'.

"I- I don't know..." I finally said, my voice faltering. I leaned my head against the window. "It was just, like... you know..."

"No, actually we don't know," Darry muttered underneath his breath. I looked at them both, then stared at my shoes. My toes looked weird when I wiggled them.

"There's gotta be some explanation about what happened, Pone," Soda asked. I could tell he was trying to piece things together for my own sake- and he was losing a little bit of patience with it.

"Well, I don't really know-" I said, getting a little red with frustration; I always felt this way when people pressed on a little too much on a particular subject- especially when I was uncomfortable about that particular subject.

"You can't just say you DON'T KNOW PONY!" Darry looked stressed.

"WELL I DON'T HAVE AN EXPLANATION OKAY!" I exploded.

"You've got to have something to say, that's at least better than nothing!" Soda said, raising his voice a little higher. What was his deal?

"I can't explain it in words! I just can't, okay!" I matched my tone to his to show him I was being serious. Soda sighed heavily and hung his head in his hands.

"You can't explain anything in words... that's just the way you are..."

"Well whatever that was, you sure got the whole park riled up about it and I wouldn't be surprised if the whole town knew by now about your little charade," Darry spat. I had never heard him so mad before. And quite frankly, I wasn't in the mood for him to be like that with me.

"Well I'm sorry if this is gonna ruin your petty little reputation of always being perfect! I wouldn't want that to get hurt or none!" I said between clenched teeth.

"THIS AINT ABOUT REPUTATIONS, PONYBOY! YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN THAT!"

"NO ACTUALLY I DON'T KNOW!" I imitated him. I had never really used words against their owner. It felt good to do that.

"Oh, c'mon now! Don't start THIS again!" Soda said before Darry was going to speak again. He glared at me in the rearview mirror. I glared right back. It wasn't my fault I heard voices, and besides if he REALLY was my brother, he'd be asking me if I was okay, not telling me that it's all my fault everyone's going to see our family as a freak show for the next few days- besides, it's only me that's going to be seen as the freak show! What was their deal? Were they embarrassed by me? Was that it? Well they can be embarrassed all they liked. I opened the door before Soda had another chance to say something and slammed it as hard as I could. My ears were redder than ever. I raced inside dodging every person and every question that approached me and went straight for my room. That door was slammed too, and locked, and I flopped on the bed. I lay there shaking. I didn't want to cry. I could feel it coming on but I was too mad to carry it out. I was filled with so much anger. And to make matters worse, I could hear Darry and Soda coming through the front door too. And I wasn't the only person who was mad.

"I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT KID!" Darry said in frustration; some rustling and the sound of things getting knocked over followed his comment. "HE'S SO STUBBORN! ALL WE WANTED TO KNOW WAS JUST- JUST-" Darry growled and more things seemed to get knocked over.

"DARREL SHAYNNE CURTIS, YOU STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!" I heard Bridget say. I didn't see her when I came storming in. I guess she was in the kitchen or something. I peaked out of my bedroom window. Where was her car?

"OR WHAT? YOU KNOW VERY WELL WHY I'M UPSET-"

"Yes, hon, I know. George told me when you left to pick them up," Bridget's voice was so soft I could barely hear her. Told her what? George wasn't there during our argument!

"I swear that boy is getting mouthier and mouthier as he grows older..." Soda said in a quiet tone. _Well having a mouth serves a good purpose in some cases_, I thought, as if I was saying it to Soda.

"Does he know?" Bridget asked.

"We didn't really get around to telling him... too busy arguing about his breakdown at the park..." Darry said bitterly.

"Pony doesn't know?... Well whatever happened on the way back you're just going to have to forget about that until this bigger problem is resolved, okay?" Charlotte said. I heard Darry breathe in and out slowly to calm himself down.

"He freaked out at something totally invisible at the park when we were there. It was like something was haunting him and he seemed upset- I guess we just didn't really take that into account seeing as how he was out there all alone WITH SUZI and- with-" Soda sighed mildly.

"Just wait. Pony will come out sooner or later and we'll get this thing resolved so we can take care of that bigger issue George had brought home with him," Bridget said with finality.

"Why don't we just forget that for now as well... Let Pony be at peace for the next few days... No need to drop a bomb on him so soon..." Charlotte said all of a sudden. What bomb? I wanted to ask them what they were talking about, but something inside of me exploded, like flames, and I realized I wouldn't be able to talk to them yet- not with my anger still very high inside of me.

"I guess so..." Darry said, much calmer than he was a minute before.

Voices started speaking all at once, and I could hear the kids gradually start playing again with young and innocent voices crying out words and the TV was turned on- the volume was at full blast. I put the pillow over my head and screamed inside my brain to try to clear things up; it didn't work and questions started reeling through my mind. What was going on? What news did George have that made Darry upset? That made EVERYONE upset? Why was that the real reason Darry was upset? Things were getting so complicated and mixed up and I just didn't know where to start. It was like a blank white jigsaw puzzle with 1,000 pieces- it was too hard for me to figure out. I bit my lip. _No_, I told myself. _Don't cry, oh crap, Ponyboy, don't cry... _I couldn't help it. My emotions were going haywire- not only because of the confusion that I now faced but of other things that impacted me emotionally that never had a chance to be completed. I felt the tears come on and I squeezed the pillow as hard as I could and started to sob.

* * *

I don't know about how long I had stayed there, sprawled across the bed, before getting up. I looked at the clock. 6:15. I must've fallen asleep or something because the time we had gotten home from the park was around 2. My face was all red and moist still. I guess I had been blubbering here and there throughout my sleep. I got up, a little dizzy, and I stretched. I remembered the fight I had had with Darry and Soda, which, now that I'm thinking about it, seems pretty stupid to fight about, and I suddenly felt the tears coming on again. I shook it off. I knew what I had to do. It was the first step to healing and forgiveness- and for Darry, Soda and the rest of the family, it'd be their ticket to getting whatever big issue that George had brought up, resolved quicker. I took in a sharp breath and let it out quickly before straightening myself out. I didn't want to look like I had been crying- my eyes were a good enough indication, I didn't need the whole outfit to confirm as well.

As I made my way to the front I could hear and smell the makings of dinner; I felt my stomach pinch itself and I licked my lips. I was so hungry. Claire and Bridget's sweet laughter carried throughout the house and Suzi and Jerilyn were both playing hide-and-go-seek with the others. Steve was here, which was sort of odd, seeing as how he's rarely over anymore. He and Soda were playing card games on the coffee table(they tried not to play poker too often, especially in front of their kids, not while they were still early in their years of life)- Chip was watching intently, as well as Fire. Everyone looked up when I walked in. I felt a little intimidated but I took a deep breath and asked if I could talk to Soda for a little. Soda got up after telling Steve to go ahead and play with Chip. I searched for Darry out of the corner of my eyes and I couldn't find him, nor could I hear him anywhere.

"What do you wanna talk about?" Soda asked a little concerned, no sign of what had happened earlier today in his voice. We were in his room by then and the door was halway open. It wasn't like we were talking about some deep secret that only him and I knew.

"I'm sorry..." I whispered. Soda turned to me, and before I knew it he pulled me in for a hug. His shirt smelled real good. Bridget had probably washed it today. I sniffled.

"Look, Darry went out to get some ice cream, and he's been a little worried about you," Soda said, rubbing my back gently.

"I'm sorry I locked you guys out... I was just so angry..." _and confused and scared and torn up..._

"I know... I don't blame you. To be honest, Darry would've probably killed you if you hadn't locked it- and it gave him time to cool down... So you were practically fine! But at the same time, it was because the door was locked and that you were in there for four hours that he was so worried about you!" Soda said. I looked up, about to apologize once more, when the sounds of the front door opening came into play and I heard Jerilyn yell, "DADDY!" followed by other little kids screaming and more joyous voices. My heart seemed to jump a little- from happiness and nervousness.

"Well, looks like the big boss is home!" I said smiling. Soda let go of me and messed up my hair as we walked out to the front to greet our big brother with the rest of the family. I caught a glimpse of Darry carrying a whole bunch of plastic bags. Bridget ran out to kiss him(I know it sounds kind of gross, but hey they're married) and Jerilyn hugged him harder than ever. You might've thought that he had just come back from war with all the attention that he was getting- but that's just how our family worked. We loved each other, with the exception of an argument or fight, and rejoiced when someone got home safely. I had to stifle a giggle from all the happiness that lit up the room.

"I went and got the ice cream- but I ALSO got bananas, chocolate syrup, and toppings!" Darry yelled out in celebration.

"As well as nuts?" Jerrod said in a hopeful voice. _Jerrod and peanuts are like two peas in a pod!_

"NUTS AND ALL!" Darry exclaimed. The kids all squealed with laughter and those who weren't already in the front came racing out pretty fast. I had to laugh at that; my dorky laugh was what made Darry turn around. When he saw me, he looked a little dumbfounded. I stopped laughing and immediately started twiddling my thumbs. I felt my face grow a little red.

"Hey Pony... You're finally out..." was all Darry had to say to make me race back to my room again. Why can't I just talk to him? I guess I just didn't want to talk things out in public- I never was one for discussing things with someone in places where others could easily hear you, whether or not their intention was to listen in on your conversation. I sat on the edge of my bed and waited, trying to get my face back to its natural color. Darry walked through the door a minute later, a little confused himself.

"Before you yell at me I only ran in here because I felt too weird to stay out there, 'cause it's sorta awkward in front of everyone- also I just- I- uh..." I didn't know what more to explain. Darry sat there patiently listening before he spoke.

"Yeah... I'd feel weird too... I guess if I was in your situation..." Darry said slowly. _Awkward..._ I thought before going on.

"I'm sorry for raising my voice at you... and making comments about your... rep..." my voice sounded tacky, and I couldn't help but feel my ears redden again.

"I'm sorry too, I guess I just haven't learned to be easier on you. Especially with-" Darry stopped abruptly.

"Especially with what?" I asked.

"Nothing... Come on, let's go and eat dinner," Darry said, motioning for me to come. Before I had a chance to ask him more questions, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and I wrapped mine around his waist. We had made up. I felt a considerable amount of a heavy load being lifted; but don't be fooled, there was still some of the load still there. But for now, I was content with myself and the problems that I still had to figure out.

* * *

"Pony, do you want me to... you know..." Soda asked as I got comfortable underneath my soft blankets. Bridget just washed it today.

"Naw, it's fine," I said with a grin. Soda grinned too. I sat up quickly and fluffed up my pillows before lying back down. That was the only nightmare I've had in a while. I doubt I'll need him to sleep with me tonight, even if it was more serious than the other nightmares I've had in the past. I sighed.

"Soda, do you think George is okay?" I asked. I didn't quite know why I asked, but I think I was catching on to everything- the argument, George's news, the whole issue. There was a long silence before Soda answered. I guess he was trying to piece his words carefully.

"Yeah... I think George is okay- I mean he's a great guy and I think him and his family are doing just fine with paying off their bills and everything. Why do you ask?"

"Oh... Just wondering, that's all..."

"Okay..." before Soda walked out, right after he turned the lights off, I wanted to tell him something.

"Soda?"

"Yeah..."

"I love you..." I felt somewhat weirded out, but at the same time, I felt content- I needed to let him know that I loved him.

"I love you too, Pone," Soda said in a soft tone. I smiled, even though he couldn't see.

"Could you tell Darry that I love him, too?" I wouldn't feel right if I hadn't told Darry that I loved him. It was like promising one of your kids that you'd get them an awesome gift and 'forgot' to get the other a gift as well.

"Yeah, I'll tell him," Soda sounded glad that I told him to do that. I was glad that he sounded that way. It made it easier for me to drift off to the place of dreams- even it was both good and bad dreams.


	4. mysterious to comprehend

**MONDAY: 4 AM, PONYBOY'S BEDROOM**

"Pony?" I faintly heard a young voice ask softly. My mind was too slow to comprehend who it was that would talk to me- I was pretty sure it was early in the morning or else I would've heard others hollering out in the front and laughing with the sounds of the TV playing somewhere in the background. I willed myself to get up but my body-like my mind- just wasn't responding; so I opened my eyes(it was pretty difficult to do that).

"S-Suzi?" I asked in a slurred voice. I could make out somewhat of her silhouette, but I still wasn't quite sure if it was really her or not. I trusted that she'd answer me the same way she always does when I'm looking for her:

"Intellectually speaking, my REAL name is Suzette," she sounded a little startled out of a misery that puzzled me; what misery could a sweet seven year old girl have besides school and nightmares? NIGHTMARES! Did she have one? She's never had one before, not one that I know of, anyways.

"Why are you awake?..."- I looked at the clock; it read 4:03 a.m.-"... It's four in the mornin', kiddo!" She seemed to do something with her fingers before answering me.

"Well... I just thought I'd come in and... well..." she was doing that thing with her fingers again.

"And what?" I asked, urging her on.

"You weren't having another nightmare, were you, Uncle?" She said in a scared voice. I blinked. It never occured to me that she would be _that_ worried about my nightmare from last night. I felt my shoulders drop and I grinned.

"I'm fine, Suzi. It was just one nightmare! To tell you the truth, I don't remember what I was dreaming about before you woke me!" I said to her reassuringly. To tell everyone the truth, I don't even know if I was dreaming at all. My mind drew blanks everytime I tried to remember what it was that I could've been dreaming about. It was nothing more than strange to me- I chugged two whole bowl-fulls of ice cream down, played capture the flag with the kids, and read for a little bit before going to bed; I never have dreams after doing a lot of stuff just before hitting the hay.

"Okay," Suzi said; her voice was more happier this time, though it was nothing more than a whisper. I got out of the bed, feeling the cold air hit my bare arms and legs and led her out to the front. Before sending her off to sleep I gave her a glass of chocolate milk- just to make sure she GOT to sleeping around in the next half and hour.

As I climbed into bed, I sighed. School started in three hours and I had to be up in two and a half. I turned onto my stomach and growled into the pillow. I felt like I had only two minutes of sleep, much less six hours. How was I ever going to wake up in time to get ready for school AND have breakfast? My mind pondered the many different types of schedules that it made up for my morning before school.

* * *

"PONYBOY!" I heard someone yell right in my ears. My eyes shot open and I sat up immediately. _OH -! _I stumbled over every little thing, even the ground, as I hussled to get my clothes and socks on. _I'M GONNA BE LATE, OH CRAP I'M GONNA BE SCREWED FOR ALL ETERNITY IF I HAVE ANOTHER TARDY IN MRS. CARSEN'S CLASS AGAIN!, _I thought, infuriated at everything. I ran out to the front, I could see Bridget yawning and cooking something over the oven for me. I passed her without saying anything and snatched up the last apple we had in the bowl next to the sink. I scooped up my backpack and grabbed my toothbrush out of the small blue cup that sat on our bathroom counter. I brushed furiously while trying to gel up my hair so that it was decent enough for school. My eyes looked different when I was mad.

"Ponyboy!" Bridget yelled from the kitchen.

"I'M GONNA BE LATE FOR SCHOOL, I HAVE TO HURRY!" I screamed angrily, muttering small curses as I did the finishing touches on my hair.

"But Pony,-"

"NO BUT'S! I NEED TO GO NOW!" I splashed water on my face and dried it as quick as I could before running out the door. There was a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach which made me stop and think. I heard the door open and I turned around. Bridget was giggling under her breath and pointing at the watch she was currently wearing.

"It's only a quarter till! You still got a couple minutes, my darlin'!" She said in a gentle voice. I was breathing hard and I closed my eyes as I calmed down a bit. I opened my eyes and smiled sheepishly at her.

"Sorry... I forgot to look at the clock..."

"I can tell! Come on in and rest a couple minutes. I'm sure Darry and Soda will be up in a little bit before you go off to school for the day! C'mon!" She motioned for me to come inside with a welcoming hand. I followed her, thankful she had caught me before I left- I would've been in a real mess if I got to the stop and realized I was way to early.

* * *

I leaned my head against the dirty window of the bus, watching the trees and houses fly by, glowing from that summer sun. _Just 4 more weeks of school, then it'll ALL be over! No more waking up early in the morning for a couple of months!,_ I told myself. The loud talking and laughter of the kids around me comforted me somewhat, and though I wasn't a part of it, I felt pretty relaxed. The teachers were being pretty relaxed on the homework, though I had to finish an essay and a couple other worksheets- but it was better than before- before I had boatloads of homework to do, and I slipped up in my grade towards the end of the second trimester, but I managed to get back before report cards went home. It was nice to have some extra time to myself.

The bus stopped for the second to last time, and I got off, stepping right out into the summer heat, thanking the bus driver before he nodded off and started the bus up again. My house was only a block away- so it wasn't that long of a walk. I smiled and for the first time in twenty four hours, I felt like there was nothing in the world that could stop me from enjoying my time in my golden years. I embraced that feeling, knowing perfectly well that it wouldn't last forever.

"HEY GUYS! I'M HOME!" I yelled out loud. I heard gasps and Suzi, Jerrod, and Jerilyn came out with happy expressions on their faces. I was puzzled. They weren't supposed to be home for another hour or so.

"Why are you guys home so early?" I asked suspiciously. They all exchanged glances.

"Mom and dad picked us up and dropped us off at home not too long ago. They said you'd be home and they went off somewhere," Jerrod explained. _Heh?_, I thought. This wasn't like Darry or even Soda, to take their kids out of school so early- Darry and Bridget believed STRONGLY in school and keeping good grades, and never took their kids out unless they were truly sick(but none were, for they, as well as I, had strong immune systems) or needed to go to the hospital/doctor(which really only happens on saturdays).

"I asked them why, but they didn't tell us..." Jerilyn added quickly.

"Hmm... that's interesting... How did they sound when you tried asking them why they picked you up?" I asked, dropping my bag on the table and pulling out my homework.

"Well... Not happy... but not sad or mad either... just kind of... whatever, you know?" Jerilyn said.

"Yeah... Whatever..." Suzi repeated.

"Well, I'm gonna do my homework, so unless you guys wanna help, run along now, and be safe, ya hear?"

"EW! You know I don't do homework! So don't ask me to help, 'cause I won't!" Jerrod said in disgust, shaking his head and turning away. I could take that.

"You're a selfish pig, you know that?" Jerilyn narrowed her eyes on her brother, smacking him in the arm. I smiled.

"I'm a pig! HA! I laugh at you! Well, _I_ didn't eat more than one bowl of ice cream last night! Now did I?" Jerrod smirked, sticking his tongue out at his twin sister. It amazes me to see that they did that. I never really had that experience. with anyone. Just with Fire and Zen. But then again, I have stronger friendships with them more than anyone else.

"You snot-nosed, immature, egotistic-"

"It's not nice to fight!" Suzi cut Jerilyn off in mid-sentence.

"YEAH SUZI, IT AINT NICE TO FIGHT YOUR BROTHER! The one you cherish and look up to in life!" Jerrod said in a teasing tone, dodging Jerilyn's punch to his arm.

"The only way I would look up to YOU in life is if I WANTED TO KNOW HOW TO SCARE AWAY GIRLS!" Jerrod gasped. I had to stifle a giggle.

"I THINK YOU ALREADY KNOW HOW TO DO THAT!" he yelled back at her.

"OKAY YOU TWO CAN STOP NOW!" I said loudly, making sure it was louder than theirs so I could get their attention. They both looked at me and then at each other, obviously too frustrated to talk more.

"Just go to your rooms and stay silent for a half hour..." I said nonchalantly. That's what Darry and Bridget did when they fought. They both stormed off to their rooms, their bickering echoing through the house. Suzi looked at me and hesitated before running off after Jerilyn. I sighed out loud and started finishing off the homework I had.

There wasn't that much to do after I finished the days work from school. Nothing good was on television and it was real quiet- mostly because of the silent thing but also because they were probably doing their own thing. It didn't take that long for me to start getting drowsy. I got up and shuffled into the kitchen trying to think of something to conjure up to eat. All in all, I don't cook much more than a few eggs when I need to, so I pulled some chips out of the cupboard and sat back down on the couch to eat. Bridget always says that eating while lying down was dangerous, but she didn't say anything about lying halfway down, so I figured that I could loop-hole her rule by lying down only halfway('cause that's just how smart I am). My eyelids started drooping and I caught myself multiple times falling asleep in the middle of eating a chip. My eyes shot open every few times after each realization that tiredness was taking over and that I needed to stay awake- normally when the parents of the household were gone, for whatever reason, I was the babysitter for the day; it wasn't a big deal, but I needed to stay awake in case something bad were to happen.

I sighed and got up, leaving the chips behind, and noticed a small glass cup- that wasn't ours- sitting right there on the counter. _Why didn't I notice that before?_, I thought puzzled. _Maybe it'll help me stay awake..._ I took the cup and chugged it down, too drowsy to tell myself that it could be poisoned. Pepsi; awesome. I sat back down on the couch and timed my breathing with an invisible beat. Everything started to become blurry and I felt more tired than ever. Things started to swirl around the room and I felt kind of dizzy.

_go ahead, fall asleep, Pony..._

_Yes, fall asleep..._

_You look so tired, just sleep for a couple minutes..._

_a couple minutes won't hurt, Ponyboy..._

No... They wouldn't, would they? Just a few minutes... What's so wrong with that? Besides... I had to lay low since my mind seemed to be playing tricks on me again. Maybe these voices weren't so bad as I thought they were... I felt my head hit the arm of the couch unvoluntarily and the chips fall to the ground, scattering themselves all over the nice carpet that Charlotte took the time to vacuum up last night. I willed myself to pick them up, knowing that I DID NOT want to be killed by my brother's wife, but strangely enough, my arm would not carry out the simple command... And my mind shut down before I could question why.

* * *

"Pony! Babe, c'mon! Wake up now!" I heard beg me a little desperately; they sounded like they were crying and I felt someone patting my cheeks slightly. I opened my eyes slowly- there were bright lights flashing and I couldn't see straight. I'm always like that when I was awakened unexpectedly- especially after taking naps. I rarely ever do take naps, only on occasions where the days were long or I had had a long and tough week. But the lights were new...

"HE'S WAKING UP!"

"Oh, thank goodness!"

"GLORY!" I sat up, with the help of someone's hand, and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. When things got clearer I looked around. Everyone was staring at me.

"What?" I said, a little too harshly. I was kind of wonky, like I had slept for a couple years insted of a couple minutes. Darry got close to my face and looked straight in my eyes. It was freaking me out.

"How are you feeling, babe?" Soda asked, as Darry continued to study me.

"I'm fine... What? Ya'll never seen a guy wake up from a nap, before?" I asked, laughing nervously to try and joke around. I tried sitting up when things went around in circles and I went back down. "WHOA!" I clutched my stomach. It was as if something was pinching the inside. I grimaced.

"Take it easy, there, Ponyboy..." Bridget said in a reassuring voice. It was then that I knew something was up. I looked at the clock- it read 11:10 p.m. _HOLY DANG!_, I thought. I had slept for a full 8 hours. That wasn't like me! The longest I had ever slept when in nap mode was three hours. And even then, I only took naps on saturdays- when I needed to.

"ELEVEN! IT'S ELEVEN! HOLY CRAP, WHY DIDN'T ANYBODY WAKE ME!" I practically screamed. They all exchanged glances before Darry answered.

"Well... We came home around 5... And when we saw you asleep we thought that, you know, you would wake up any minute 'cause Suzi came out and saw you sleeping- she said that was roughly around 4. At around 7, we started getting worried because you hadn't even moved an inch. So I asked Soda to come over and wake you, since Char had made dinner already, and when he did you didn't wake up... again you didn't budge! So we've all been trying to wake you up, but- you just didn't! That's when we all got real worried because it was then we noticed you looked different... Your eyes looked a little sunk in, you were pale, and we found the bag of chips all over the ground! We thought you might've had a heart attack or something that no one else may have noticed. Then we called the police, your doctor- EVEN TWO-BIT, to try and wake you up... Doc said you were in a deep trance of some sort... Like, drugged with something he couldn't make out at the moment... I don't know... But you're awake now..."- Darry pulled me in for a hug-"... and that's all that matters..." Soda and the rest of the gang joined in on the hug while I was left clueless about the previous situation. Trance? All I did was fall asleep... Or did I? Maybe it was my dream... Again I couldn't remember what I was dreaming and why it would've kept me asleep. I was getting really irritated, I would've punched something if everyone hadn't been so worried and occupied with hugging me.

"I heard he's awake," an unknown voice said observantly. A grey-haired, middle-aged man with spectacles on was standing over me after everyone let go. He bent down and studied me the way Darry had a couple minutes ago.

"Chloral Hydrate," He said.

"Chlora what now?" Jerrod burst out. He was standing in the middle of the hallway looking at us all.

Jerrod Wexler Curtis! BED, now!" Bridget said in a stern voice. 'Chloral Hydrate' Darry mouthed in shock.

"How in the world did he ingest CHLORAL HYDRATE in the last twenty four hours! WE DON'T EVEN HAVE ACCESS TO THAT KIND OF STUFF!" Soda burst out with fury looking back and forth from me to the doctor.

"That blood sample you let me take-"

"WHOA WHOA WAIT! You let him take a sample of my BLOOD!" I squeaked. Soda put his arm around my shoulders and told the doc to go on. (If you haven't noticed I don't like it when doctors take my blood sample.)

"The blood sample... It showed traces of chloral hydrate... He probably ate or drank something that had it in there. Ponyboy, do you remember drinking or eating something that may have had traces of this in there? Something that you would've become very drowsy from a couple minutes after taking it?" he held up a small white bottle. I immediately thought of the pepsi.

"Stupid Pepsi..." I mumbled.

"What?"

"Oh... Well... There was this cup of Pepsi that I found on the counter... It didn't belong to us but I was thirsty and so I drank it... I knocked out just five minutes after chugging it down," I explained. Darry turned me around sharply.

"Where did you say you found that cup? What did you do with it?" he asked firmly.

"I... I uh... I put it in the sink to clean up..." I stuttered pointing to the kitchen. Soda got up immediately and ran into the kitchen; Darry, Bridget and Charlotte followed. Two-Bit just patted my shoulder. The doctor continued to study me.

"So five minutes? That's all it took?" the doctor confirmed.

"Yeah..."

"Mmm... That's quite a reaction time..."

"Well I was kind of already tired..."

"I see... Now, Ponyboy, I will need to see you tomorrow sometime just to check your system and make sure there isn't anything else in your blood that could cause harm to you in the near future, if that's okay. And intaking this much chloral hydrate is something we need to check out as well..."

"We'll be there," Darry said as he walked into the room. I guess I had to. I leaned my head back- I felt weird.

"Just one question though..." Bridget said quietly.

"What is it?" everyone said all at once.

"If that cup isn't ours... and we hadn't noticed it when we dropped everyone off here... then who's is it?"

"And why did it have chloral hydrate in it?" Soda asked. We all froze.

* * *

**I've been so busy so I've been trying to make the best of these stories and draft the one that bellavision so kindly asked me to do for her- AND I PROMISE I WILL GET THAT POSTED! These chapters will confuse you, but hopefully it'll all tie together in the end! THX FOR READING THIS STORY!**

**Stay Gold,**

**The Outsiders EXPERT-101**


	5. a dark surprise

"And they'd cue the creepy music, oooWEEEOOOO!" I said, wiggling my fingers in a creepy way. Soda smacked me across the shoulder.

"What?" I said inbetween laughter. He gave me one of those serious looks. My laughter turned into fake coughing.

"Sorry..."

"At least the boy knows how to find the humor in something quite serious as this," the doctor smiled half-heartedly.

"Yeah..." Charlotte said, trying to laugh.

"Well, thanks doc, but as you can see I guess there's nothing more for you to do here," Darry said with finality. The doc nodded packed up and left without uttering another word.

"Glory hallelujah..." Two-Bit said with a great big yawn, stretching out in the armchair. I felt weird, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep so I sat up and turned on the TV, finding some wierd game show on. I didn't watch it for very long.

"Well, me and Char are gonna go to bed now. Night, babe," Bridget said softly kissing Darry on the cheek. Soda was holding Charlotte and let her go and they both disappeared up the stairs. Soda followed a couple minutes afterward.

"Darry, could you stay up with me a little bit?" I asked, looking up at him. He nodded, but didn't look at me.

"I'll just go home then," Two-Bit said, getting up noisely from the armchair and walking over to the door.

"Hey, man, thanks," Darry said patting Two-Bit on the shoulder. He smiled. When the door closed, I sighed.

"You've been keeping something from me... haven't you..." it was more of a statement than a question. Darry just sat down and ran his fingers through his thick hair (even for a forty three, Darry still had the hair of a twenty-five-year-old; I guess, like dad, he never did go in for the aging process.).

"I just don't know how to say this in correct terms..."

"No need to get scientific, just let it out and I'm sure it won't be as bad as you think," I said smoothly. It got me curious. What was everyone so worried about that I didn't know?

"Well..."

"Darry?" Darry looked at me.

"Just say it!" He took a deep breath and stared at me. He kept his eyes on me as his short message came out in a stern and steady tone.

"Paul broke out of jail and police have this idea in their head that he's coming after George..." I froze. Never did I have that same exact feeling of that icy blood type feeling running through your veins everywhere, carrying the chill of fear to every fingertip and muscle, in my lifetime.

"You can't be serious," I said in a bare whisper. Darry frowned, and his expression didn't change.

"The part that worries me is that-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa wait! THERE'S MORE?" I squeaked. This time Darry's expression turned from firm to helpless. He put both hands on my shoulders and squeezed- I don't know if it was to keep me calm or if it was to keep him from falling apart.

"They said that _you_ might be who's he coming after, also..." My eyes widened and I felt as if the whole world had just froze in time. That rough and hard voice that haunted me for so long. Those penetrating eyes and that deathly glare and rage he had. He was coming after me? Why? Because Darry and Soda were able to get me back? Because Two-Bit was the one who held him down and turned him in? My head started spinning and scenarios of how Paul could get to me and kill me started playing through my head.

"Pony? Ponyboy?" Darry snapped his fingers in front of my face to bring me back to reality. I jumped up.

"YOU MIGHT AS WELL TELL ME THAT SODA IS DESTINED TO GET MURDERED ON THE DAY OF MY SIXTEENTH BIRTHDAY!" I screamed. I was shaking real bad. I didn't realize that Soda wasn't asleep yet.

"You told him?" Soda asked. Darry nodded and Soda made his way over to the couch to sit down next to me. He started rubbing my back.

"When?" I asked in a dark voice.

"When what?"

"When did he escape?" there was a long pause.

"Three days ago," Soda said. That was the day before I had the nightmare. I shuddered to think that I was at the park alone with Suzi while Paul was on the loose- the prison he was thrown in wasn't far away from here. We all sat there for a moment. Soda's back rubbing helped somewhat but the fear of the possibility that I could be a victim of murder couldn't be shut out.

"We should've told you earlier..." Darry said after a while.

"That would've helped a lot..." I could barely speak. It still didn't explain the pepsi. I didn't want to remind them of it.

"Does this mean I won't be able to go to school?" I asked suddenly.

"Well... We're debating on it..." Soda said slowly.

"I can hold up my own, Darry. There'll be lots of others around me twenty-four seven and I won't go outside unless a teacher's out..." I said, trying to convince them that I was going to be okay if I went to school.

"I really don't wanna take any chances-" Darry said hesitantly.

"I can't miss the last few weeks of school!"

"I know that..."

"C'mon... Even if you told Two-Bit to come and wait for me outside of school, I don't care what! Just as long as I don't have to make up any school during the summer!" I begged. Darry and Soda exchanged glances and sighed.

"I guess-"

"YES!"

"But you NEED to be careful! Always look out if you're outside, and you need to have a buddy with you at all times, you hear me?"

"Geez, don't make it sound like I'm in kindergarten using the buddy system..." a slight smile came across Soda's face.

"I know Two-Bit and Steve are both willing to wait for you- Dallas already offered to keep out for George and Soda is gonna help along too. Elizabeth took Kenneth with her to live with her parents in Oklahoma City for a while..." Soda said in a quiet voice. _Wow, it's really that bad..._ I thought sadly.

"Why didn't george go with them?" I asked. I answered that question for myself already before Darry did.

"He didn't want Paul to follow him out to where Elizabeth, Kenneth, AND Elizabeth's parents would be..."

"Oh..." the clock read 12. Soda noticed me looking at it and sighed.

"I know you just got up and all, but ou should probably try and get some more sleep... I'm taking you in early tomorrow..."

"To school? Why?"

"No. To the hospital. You're not going to school tomorrow," Darry said firmly. I nodded and didn't argue about the debate we just had.

* * *

I hopped into bed and I sunk in a little bit. Soda got in, but didn't lie down. He just patted me softly on the back.

"Soda?"

"Yeah?"

"Where do you think... Where do you think he is now?"

"Who?"

"You know..."

"Oh..." Soda said after thinking for a minute.

"Yeah..."

"Don't think about that right now..." he said gently. I turned to face him.

"But what if he's in our area? What if he's already got George and now he's after me?"

"I told you don't think about it! Now hush up and go to bed, okay?" by the way he sounded I could tell that this was partly why they postponed telling me about Paul.

"Okay..." so many questions I wanted to ask then and there. So many things I wondered about that night. I worried I wouldn't be able to survive that week. _You gotta hope... Don't sell Two-Bit and Steve short on their promises..._ I told myself. I knew that they would always be there for me. Always. I guess the thing I really was worried about was whether or not they would be strong enough- whether or not they were enough. I shuddered just thinking about it. I took in a deep breath and sighed. _It's okay, everything'll be okay..._ , I thought. I kept reassuring myself until I fell asleep- but the funny thing was, I didn't recall going to sleep after that.


	6. Darkest Sunlight

_How long...?_

_It is soon..._

_midnight is at hand..._

_He's coming..._

_You need to hide..._

_What good will your friends do?..._

_He won't stop..._

_You're not safe..._

_He's here..._

_Now..._

_NOW..._

_WAKE UP NOW!_

I was jerked awake from my restless slumber and found it utterly freezing in my dark room. Clutching my blankets close to me I took in a deep breath and looked around, trying to conjure up the parts of my room that I hadn't already made out. I took a quick look at my alarm clock after making a quick overview of my room. 4:23; crap. I slid underneath the covers once more and groaned, trying to keep my face as warm as I could before exposing it to the bitterness of the still air around me once more.

_Tap tap... *giggles*..._

My eyes opened wide and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I slowly took the blanket off and looked around my room once more. My closet door was wide open, as usual, and as dark as it was, I could still tell there was nothing in there; I moved on to the bedroom door. It was slightly open, still so close to being closed, only letting a slit of equal darkness outside in the hall escape into my room. So I got up carefully, feeling my heart rate climb. I wrapped my fingers around the golden door knob, and kept to the side of the door that didn't give away my position of awareness, and flung it open. Nothing. I looked out, from side to side, and shrugged my shoulders, reassuring myself in the theory that maybe I was still dreaming.

_Tap tap... *hushed and insistant snickering*_

I looked around and noticed my window once more. There was an uneasy knot forming in the pit of my stomach as I made my way over to the window. I looked out, feeling extremely uncomfortable; there was nothing. I opened it and dared myself to look out. The cold air surrounded me quicker than silver, pinching my face and every other part of my body that was exposed. I looked outside, my teeth chattering harder than anything. Again nothing. There was almost complete silence with that one glitchy light that flickered on and off in the night; that light always gave me good ideas for writing scary short stories. That was when I saw it- saw him. That grotesque figure standing on the sidewalk. His shadow was creepier than he was as it stretched out until it was too close to me for comfort. My breathing became ragged and I started to blink, thinking feverishly that it wasn't true. That lone figure looked too familiar for it to be anyone other. I felt petrified. Like his glare was holding me captive in my own despair. I thought I saw something cross his face, but I had had enough by then.

I slammed the window closed and ran screaming up the stairs to Darry's room, furiously turning every single hallway light on. By the time I had reached Darry's room, him, Bridget, Charlotte and Soda were all up and out, yawning and rubbing their eyes. I was breathing hard and I could feel tears run down my face; I finally leaned my back against the wall and buried my face in my hands, shrinking away from reality to take time to let my emotions burn out. I felt someone put firm hands on my shoulders.

"Ponyboy what happened?" I heard Darry ask in a soft tone. I involuntarily got up and threw my arms around Darry's waist, squeezing him as hard as I could. The thought that maybe squeezing him in a huge hug would make everything go away- I hoped so desperately.

Darry was rubbing my back and stroking my hair and I could hear Soda tell Charlotte and Bridget to go and take care of the children- that they'd calm me down and talk to me. So I heard them leave and I looked back, to make sure that they could not see my embarrassing face. I loosened up my hold on Darry, but didn't let go, for fear that something bad might happen if I did.

"What is it, baby? What's wrong?" Soda pressed, giving me a wild look of concern. I looked around the hallway again, making an overview of it before looking at my brothers. They both had the patience for me, since I knew there was no way that they were going to work, or that I was going to school today. I gulped and felt myself get pale. My lips felt drier than ever as I started to talk...

"I- I-I-" I felt the tears start back up again and I began to shake. Soda scooted closer to me and wrapped his arms around me too, letting me know inarticulately that there was nothing to fear- that they were here and would always help me with whatever I needed help on. I looked at Darry straight in the eye with a horrified look on my face.

"I saw him..." Darry looked at Soda, not quite getting what I meant.

"Who?" he asked uncertainly. I felt tears well in my eyes.

"Paul..." Darry fell silent and I could tell that he was trying to figure out how it could've been possible; he wasn't expecting this. Soda held me tighter, though I knew he was comforting himself as well.

"Dream," Darry said with finality, though the way he said it, it sure didn't seem like Darry thought it was a dream. I shook my head.

"I was awake! I heard tapping...and I even came out into the hall to see what it was... and then I checked outside my window and-" I stopped and took a deep breath as I remembered his figure just standing there... watching me... waiting...

"He was there..." Soda said in a fearful awe. Darry bit his lip and looked at me. I helplessly continued on in my storytelling.

"He was just standing there looking at me like, like he wanted to kill me but he just didn't know how! I got so scared... so so scared... I just-" I buried my face in Soda's chest and let out small and silent sobs, curling up in his arms.

"Hey, hey look at me!" Darry said in a reassured voice. I looked at him. He had his hands on my upper arms and he had that detirmined look in his blazing blue eyes.

"We're gonna get him- you'll be safe, Soda's gonna be safe, and so will Bridget and Charlotte and everyone in this household. I know the gang is gonna be safe too... Don't worry about it, 'kay?" I nodded. When Darry said something was going to be alright, I automatically assumed it would be. I had gotten in that habit when I was five years old... I had pressed on a lot of questions about mom and dad when I was five...

"Leave the worrying to me and Soda... just go back to bed- would you like Soda or I to sleep with you?" I looked down the hall for a minute. Then sheepishly, I nodded and pouted a little bit as I started playing with my fingers, feeling an awful lot like a toddler. I could see Darry smile out of the corner of my eye and they both got up from off the floor, extending a helping hand for me to get up.

Once we got back to the bedroom I looked at the window and froze in the middle of the doorway. Soda had slipped past me and went up to it, looking around before pulling the curtains down.

"Nothing else to see here..." he mumbled beneath his breath. I started to shiver, though not all of it was from the cold. As I slipped into bed, I immediately started wondering where Paul had gone... if he was still out there or not... if any of us really were safe...

"Pony come here..." I heard Soda whisper softly as he climbed underneath the covers as well. I did as he told, scooching closer to him. He embraced me in a warm hug of love.

"Darry and Two-Bit and Steve and Dally and Johnny and me- we're all gonna keep everybody safe... and George too... You dig, Pone? The police are helping out and everyone here's got nothin' to worry about- well, unless it's Charlotte's grumpy mood!" he whispered that last part about Charlotte to make sure she wouldn't hear. Char said that she was always in places where we least expect it, so we better watch we say about her behind her back. I smiled. It felt good to be around Soda when I needed it. He always comforted me- him and Soda. And I love them more than anything... It made me get the urge of wanting to meet my parents; I felt bad that I loved Soda and Darry more than my parents because I didn't get to meet my parents- they died a couple of months before I turned two- and sometime inbetween that, Paul found it necessary to kidnap me. I sighed, finding myself yet again unhappy.

"What's the matter, Pony?" Soda asked, stroking my hair. I looked up at him, searching his face for a hint of my mom and dad... I had only seen pictures of them, and although I could definitely tell which brother looked like which parent, I got mixed up and forgot, because up until that point, it had never mattered to me so much.

"What?" he said with a smile crossing his face. I had to smile too.

"Nothing..." I said nonchalantly. I transitioned my glance from Soda's face to the ceiling and let my mind wander for a while.

"You're so strange, you know that?" he said with a sigh of his own, laying down completely on the bed and turning of the table lamp. I didn't answer him- didn't have to. I knew I was wierd, and I knew that he knew that I knew that as well. It was a simple fact. I cuddled with Soda, just to make double sure that he was still there.

"Love you Soda..." I whispered.

"Love you too, Ponyboy..."

That was the last time I got to sleep with Soda- the last night I got to stay at my house.

* * *

"Aww, sh-" I heard someone yell out. Woke me up pretty fast. I immediately sat up in my bed and looked around, noticing straight away that Soda was gone. I wonder if he had even slept with me the whole night. I got up and walked right out into the hall, making somewhat of an effort to keep thinking straight since I was walking into the walls around me; I just woke up, so don't judge!

"Hey Pony!" Jerrod yelled out, passing by the hall with a bright red apple in his hand and a huge smile on his face.

"Hope, Darry aint around because if he caught you sayin' that-"

"I didn't say nothin', and anyway, I aint the one you should be worryin' about!" Jerrod smirked before slipping on his backpack. I glared at him before making my way through to the kitchen.

"Oh, mornin' Pone- AW!- *sizzle* SSSHHHHIII-"

"You shouldn't swear..." I said softly to Charlotte. Sure, I swore... sometimes. No one, not even the gang, dug it anymore, not like they used to, the way some did and to be frank, things in my life just weren't that crappy to swear about. So I don't have a real reason to.

"Mmm..." Charlotte's lips were pursed; how much you wanna bet that she's considering to spank me right here and now?

"I'm sorry... I'm not tryin' to tell ya what to do and all, it's just-"

"Yeah, yeah I know I know!"-she took a deep breath in and let it out slowly-"I'm just stressed on this lovely morning... Early this morning doesn't seem to help much.." she said. I guess she didn't realize what she had said, but I deserved that. I pouted a little, feeling real guilty for what had happened this morning.

"Oh, no, Ponyboy please, I didn't mean it that way-" Charlotted turned the stove off and hugged me. She smelled of burnt chicken mixed in with blow powder- don't ask me how I know, I just do. I had to chuckle inside myself. Charlotte was tough and all, but when it cames to things like this, she melted within minutes- I guess it was just a girl thing.

"It's okay... So, you havin' problems with breakfast?" I asked, trying to change the subject. She let go of him and then muttered something to herself.

"Yeah, stupid good-for-nothing contraption's not workin' right!" she hissed through her teeth. I snickered a little.

"You want me to help you?" I asked politely. I could tell she needed the help, and since I woke her up early this morning, I figured I owed it to her. Before she could answer though, I heard someone scream my name from the living room. _That's awfully convenient_, I thought.

"Be right back-" I walked out to the living room to find a freshly showered and dressed Soda, who had finally shaved this week, with baby Jett on his lap bouncing up and down squealing with delight of being bounced up and down. I had to smile at this peaceful sight. Soda was always good with kids- him and Darry. I guess it's because they had experience with me when I was little; well, in technicality, since I was born.

"Golly gee..." I said softly. Soda looked up with surprise and amusement on his face. Then snickered.

" 'golly gee' !" he mimicked between giggles; Jett's laugh matched Soda's. My smile turned into a frown and I rolled my eyes turning to go back to the kitchen to help Charlotte... I get impatient with people who mocked me. It's just how I am...

"HEY HEY WAIT A SECOND!" Soda yelled quickly. I stopped but didn't turn around, hoping he'd get the message.

"Come here..." he said, laughter hiding on the edge in his tone of voice. I shook my head and started to walk in.

"Ponyboy!" he called out, this time sounding a little more apologetic. I turned around but avoided eye contact this time. I could be real bratty when I wanted to, and I guess I wanted to then... Since, you know, I get impatient with people who mocked me... even if it was my brothers- my family.

"Okay, I'm sorry Pony... Will you please come here," he said gently, letting a soft smile rest upon his face. I looked up and smiled too.

"Okay!" I said happily and went and sat down next to him. He burst into laughter and so did Jett(though Jett didn't understand what we did half the time, it seemed funny to me that he laughed and smiled everytime someone else did; then again I did that too, according to Darry, and Claire laughs about 88% of the day on a good day; so maybe he gets it from her...).

"You're funny, you know that?"

"Yeah... I do..." more laughter.

"Hmmm, wonder where Darry is?" as soon as he said that I heard screaming. I jumped and felt my heart beat rise. I started breathing raggedly and closed my eyes for a second. Ever since I was little, I could never take scares- not even little ones. It was just the type of thing where, if it was bad enough, I could potentially get a heart attack. My heart just didn't handle that very well- it was the reason the whole gang tried helping me not to have nightmares whenever it was that I did have them. Darry and Soda got so worried everytime I did. I had remembered a rumble being arranged when I was very young, and I could hear the bloody shouts and curses all the way from our house which scared me even more so since Darry and Soda weren't there to comfort me; it didn't help much to know that they were a part of that fight. I felt Soda put a hand on my shoulder and squeeze and I managed a small smile while trying to remember how to breathe.

"DARRY STOP IT!" I heard Bridget yell. Then more laughter and screaming. Soda got up and dropped Jett on my lap to go and see just what all the yelling was all about. Jett looked at me and then crawled and leaned against me, getting himself comfortable. I put my hand at his back and stood up slowly; I was interested in what was happening too. Nobody, and I mean nobody, screams like that unless something's up. So I meandered into the hall, making it seem like I just happened upon the occasion; I had to hold back chortles of laughter- I hate my laugh, and it was getting difficult what with seeing Darry and Two-Bit both engulfing Bridget in a huge man hug; Darry was in front, Two-Bit in back, with Bridget helplessly sandwiched in the middle.

"AGH! Darry- you- better- stop- this- NOW!" Bridget cried out weakly, trying to get out from between them. They both burst into laughter.

"Okay- one more time, Two-Bit!" Darry declared in a loud voice.

"NO!" Bridget practically screamed. They were hugging her so tight, if you listened close enough, you could hear their teeth gritting.

"OKAY STOP IT!" Bridget shrieked in a high-pitched voice; when a girl squealed like that, you had better stop or else... So Two-Bit and Darry let go and she dropped to the floor gasping and coughing. Darry laughed, high-fived Two-Bit, and tried to help her get up, but she angrily slapped his hand away and got up herself, pushing past me and everybody else in the hallway without another word. When she got angry, the whole house normally kept quiet until she calmed down. Darry sighed and patted Two-Bit on the back.

"What was that all about?" I asked, feeling slightly puzzled. I didn't get girls at all...

"Ah, she was having a 'hard' time waking up, so I dragged her out in the hallway to do that... You know how she likes hugs and stuff..." Darry said, yawning and checking the time on his watch. Two-Bit giggled beneath his breath.

"She sure does now..." he said. A big and broad smile crossed Darry's face and he ran past me; knowing him I'd guess that he was probably going to see if Bridget was okay; she normally was, but you never know... I walked back out into the hall and sat back down on our worn down couch; it was a dark and dry brown with a couple of stains from goodness knows what... But this couch had a lot of memories... some funny, some sad, and some just downright embarrassing... You know that- never mind... He'd kill me if I told you... :)

When everyone had gone to work, it was just me, Darry, and Soda all alone in the house. The silence intrigued me, yet creeped me out to a certain extent. I started to fiddle with the buttons on my shirt; it was new. Darry bought it for me last week. It's a light brown long-sleeved shirt with a couple buttons going down the front. It was pretty tuff... Darry walked in and grabbed the keys off of the coffee table. I got up and quickly checked my hair in the mirror hanging over the television set before joining Darry and Soda in the car. Not too long, but not too short with an exact straight hair-split line placed offish-left towards the center- agh, there was a hair out of place. I licked my thumb and positioned it so that it'd stick with the hair around it. Though I was a guy, I did have somewhat of OCD so I needed everything to look perfect(so picture me going through Zen's bedroom- it's an absolute horror to all clean-freaks around the world; but Darry told me Two-Bit was the same way too, so I figured if you put two and two together, really...). I smiled, proud of how handsome I was; vain, yes, selfish, absolutely not. I didn't want to go to the hospital today, but I guess I had to. Darry and Soda both needed to chill for a second, and I guess going through with this would help them do that. I just didn't want to get there and recieve bad news... and in addition to that, Paul was somewhere out there... watching... waiting... I shivered involuntarily, getting close to crying when Soda (who had chosen to sit in the back with me) had started to pat my knee and smiled. I smiled through the small tears on my face, and sniffled, telling myself to stop crying. I was safe now- what was the worse that could happen?


	7. the Voices

**_Dear Darrel and Sodapop Curtis,_**

**_We tell you in urgency to inform you that your brother Ponyboy Michael Curtis was detirmined missing at 0345 PM and was last seen at Eagle's Park on Independence St. as of March 22, 1980..._**

**_

* * *

_**

"Well, it seems to be that there is nothing wrong with him; there's nothing in his system that we find troubling and he is mentally stable, and, uh, we do still recommend that you do keep him from going to school though, just to be on the safe side, for another couple days though," I heard the doctor tell Darry and Soda firmly. I was so bored; just sitting there staring at the floor or watching some old person go by in a weelchair with tubes running across his face, silently feeling sorry for him. The doctor hadn't taken that long while examining me- we ran through a few tests and he sent me out to sit in the waiting room while he quietly talked to Darry and Soda right outside the hospital room I had been taking tests in.

I twiddled my thumbs.

_Ponyboy..._

I felt my eyes go wide and froze. _Glory please not again..._

_Ponyboy..._

I slowly put my feet up on the chair and hugged them tightly to my chest burying my face into my knees. _Please, just for one day, leave me alone!_

_Ponyboy..._

_PONY..._

_You can never hide from us..._

_Not from him..._

_He sees you..._

_You can't run..._

_No doctor or family member will help you..._

_Don't you understand?_

_You're better off dead!_

I felt like screaming.

"Leave me alone..." I whispered dryly, feeling more afraid than ever.

_He knows you're better off dead..._

_He's doing you a FAVOR..._

_Don't resist this..._

_Give in..._

_Put your family out of their misery..._

_Just go to him..._

_get it over with..._

I shook my head slowly.

_You know where he is..._

_Go to him..._

_Do us all a favor..._

_Do them a favor..._

_You really think being safe helps them?_

_Go now..._

I shook my head more violently.

"NOOOO!" I shrieked at the top of my lungs, falling to the floor.

"PONY! TELL ME WHAT'S WRONG!" Darry asked me, helping me up, trying to calm me down. I tore away from his arms and crashed to the floor once more.

_You know you're only making this worse for yourself..._

_Don't you see how much pain you're causing them?_

_Don't you know how much easier it'd make it on them?_

"STOP IT! STOP ITT!" I screamed, sobbing, clutching my head.

"Ponyboy PLEASE! Tell us what's happening- please tell us!" Soda begged, trying to get me to sit up; I could hear how worried and desperate and left out he sounded but I couldn't tell him.

_Come now..._

_He'll make it quick..._

_It'll be over before you know it..._

_This'll be a ticket to your parents..._

_Don't you think this has to end?_

_I agree..._

_I don't agree..._

_You've got to..._

_Let us help you..._

_Let him help you..._

It was as if they were whispering loudly right in my ear- they're small demonic voices rang out throughout my head and drove me to insanity.

I shrieked at the top of my lungs, kicking as hard as I could; not only did I have creepy whispering voices tell me things, I was now being pinned firmly against the hard marble floor of the hospital for whatever reason whoever was doing it had in mind. I felt someone lock up on my arm and hold it solidly in place on the ground; it only made me scream louder.

"NOO!" I screeched. All of a sudden, I felt a small prick in my arm. What good did that do? I began to kick and scream louder than ever, squirming as I heard multiple human voices scattered all over the place yelling out orders and questions.

"Ponyboy, LISTEN TO ME!" I heard Darry grimace, fighting against my flailing hands and shrieks- he now had me up and in his embrace, making it a little easier on Soda and all the other nurses and doctors that were holding me down.

"Stop this-PONY!- IT'S NOT REAL!" he shouted once more, struggling to hold me just a little longer. I tried to think clearly and ignore the voices, for his sake, but unfortunately, they had continued.

_This has to end..._

_You're only hurting yourself..._

_No way you could escape anways..._

_Just give up..._

_Do it..._

_Save your brothers the trouble..._

_Everyone'll think you're crazy..._

_he can help you..._

"DARRY!" I screamed. I could hear Darry answer but I couldn't tell what it was he started to say afterwards because again came another prick in my arm. I continued kicking and screaming psychotically in a crazed outrage, being so thoroughly tortured by the voices that held me in a petrified state.

All of a sudden I felt my body tighten up and I tried to release the tension that had been building onto itself but this didn't feel like tension- it felt like something else. I then felt myself get weaker and weaker, my kicking seemed to slow down, it got more and more difficult to keep it up- like kicking in thick water or quick sand. Finally, I released all the energy I had and let myself sag against Darry, my mouth opening wide to scream once more, but closing again, for my voice grew very weak as well. _What's going on? _I thought in alarm. My thoughts then drifted away and I felt my mind numb out to the internal pain I had caused it while screaming endlessly. _What's going on? ... What's going... What's... _my breathing became even and I relaxed into it more comfortably this time.

Soda's quiet sobs echoed in the now distilled and silent hall.

"What's wrong with him? What's happening?" I heard Darry ask in a small hopeless tone, and I could feel him stroke my face gently. A single tear had found its way down my cheek somehow and dropped to my chest, staining my new shirt silver.

"I... I don't know..." I think that was the first time I had ever heard a doctor's voice falter because of unsurity and doubt.

I winced, and tightened my grip on Darry's arm as one last whisper was spoken before I had passed out- this one wasn't like the others. No, it was deeper, and darker... and rougher...

_You're dead to me..._

_

* * *

_

When I had woken up I was in bed- the sun was still high in the sky, but that didn't bother me; I got up slowly, shaking. I was afraid that those voices would bother me once more. Something swiftly moved across the room. I tried screaming out for someone, but my voice didn't come; all there was was a hollow soundless hum in the back of my throat and I closed my mouth, feeling tears yet again fall down my cheeks.

Someone grabbed my arms. I pushed them away as hard as I could and got off the bed as fast as I could- only to find myself running into the dresser, feeling a sharp pain just above my knee and dropping to the ground, gasping in pain; I was grasping my knee in my arms. _That wasn't very smart! _I scolded myself.

A bright yellow light flickered on.

"Ponyboy, are you okay?" Bridget asked in a horrified tone. I looked up, not quite recognizing her, for there was a blur in my eyes. She got down and clicked her tongue sadly.

"Mmm... Darry and Soda aren't gonna be happy if they see you now..." she said softly, taking a good look at my knee. It wasn't bad- both the tear and the pain. But it was bleeding mighty lots, and I got a little grossed out that it was getting on the carpet. I tried to make a sound and talk to her but yet again, my voice failed to come.

"You can't talk?" she asked seeming a little surprised. I made a small effort and cleared my throat, which hurt more than ever, and tried speaking for a third time, finding myself epically failing once more.

"Hmmm... This is a setback..." I looked at her then realized something after glancing around the room and listening closely to what was happening out in the hallway.

_Where's Darry and Soda?_ I mouthed. She squinted at me real close.

"Darry and Soda?" she repeated slowly. I nodded.

"Oh, um... they're out getting some stuff with the kids, but they should be back-" interrupting her was the sound of a door unlocking and opening, followed by numerous volumes of feet walking across the floor, kicking shoes off. Bridget smiled then got me up and sat me down on the bed, making sure I didn't get any of the blood on the sheets. I, however, was preoccupied with looking eagerly at the door, waiting any minute now for Darry and Soda to walk through.

"Hold still, Pone! I gotta get this cleaned up!" she grabbed a folded yellow rag (that was moist) while one hand held my leg in place, and gently pressed it on and around the tear. I gripped the edge of the bed, half of my mind concentrating on trying not to think about the pain, and the other half wondering why there was a wet rag on my dresser in the first place.

"Daddy..." I looked up to see a wide-eyed Suzette yell out. I waved then grimaced, shutting my eyes tightly. She quickly ran out of the room, seeming afraid of something. _Ugh, she better be done soon! _I thought. When I looked down I was relieved to find that she had wiped away most of the blood and there wasn't that much left coming out of the wound. I put a hand on Bridget's shoulder, and she looked at me.

_Thank you_ I mouthed. She smiled and nodded her head, turning back to the task at hand.

"What happened?" I heard Darry and Soda both say in unison. I looked at them both and then smiled crazily. Man, I loved them both. Soda returned the smile, while Darry was still staring at the big gash in my knee. Soda sat down on the bed and we embraced for a little while.

"How are you, baby?" He whispered softly in my ear. I just hugged him tighter, not quite yet wanting to tell him I couldn't speak. I felt someone else put a hand on my shoulder and I looked up to find Darry looking at me with a gentle expression.

"How you feeling, Pone?" he asked, kneeling down next to Bridget. I looked at both of them feeling helpless and tapped my throat sadly. They exchanged confused glances.

"He can't talk... he's lost his voice..." Bridget answered for me. I pointed to her and nodded. They both turned from relieved to sad. I felt sorta bad and mouthed _I'm sorry_ to both of them.

"It's not you're fault babe..." Darry said quickly. Soda agreed with a formal nod and they both sighed. I started to giggle. It wasn't very often that the three of us did things in sync, and watching Darry and Soda do things in sync seemed funny to me- I hadn't laughed in a while, so I needed something to laugh at. And my laughter eventually caused Darry and Soda to laugh too.

"You guys are all nuts..." Bridget said, breaking out into a fit of giggles with us as well. Darry turned to her and smiled admiringly.

"The only things I'm nuts over is you!" he exclaimed in a lovestruck stupor. Soda boomed out with a hearty laugh while I pretended to gag and mouthed _ick! Not here!_. Though they've been married for a while, it's still gross to watch two adults express their love for each other... grown adults around the age of 40... Bridget smiled and wacked him softly in the leg while finishing up on putting the bandage around my knee. I looked at her brightly and mouthed _thank you_ once more to her after she was done.

"You're very welcome, Pony!" she said brightly, wiping her hands on her jeans and dusting herself off as she got up.

"Now, you look like you could use some lunch right about now!" she tapped me on the nose, and to everyone's surprise I blushed and felt my ears go red- and to know that I felt them go red only made me blush harder. I nodded sheepishly. She laughed once more and went out to go and get some food.

I got up and felt a little suspicious about my leg- Soda and Darry both grabbed either side of my arms and helped pull me up. I looked at them both and smiled. They helped me walk out to our living room couch to sit down and chat with Steve and Two-Bit- because they had both decided that two families in our household just wasn't enough- especially during lunchtime.

* * *

**_Dear Darrel Curtis,_**

**_we regret to inform you that your wife, miss Bridget Marie Curtis, formally Bridget Marie Skyler, was found dead at address: 13766 S. Tillet Rd, 43223..._**


	8. Tragedy Strikes: She's Dead

_Today I wished a wish._

_It was a big wish!_

_The wish only dreamers wish!_

_Because that's what I am..._

_A dreamer..._

_

* * *

_

"You know, I'm pretty sure she's got the right idea!" Charlotte said, raising her voice above the noise of all the kids shrieks of laughter and frolic play. Darry just snorted, laughing in the process.

"Ha! Right! And maybe Elvis Presley was really a fat hippo disguised as a hot greaser to raise money for his three fat kids!" I burst into laughter and almost doubled over from laughing so hard.

"Hey! That's an insult to Elvis fans, everywhere!" Bridget shouted out in defense. That only made me laugh harder.

"What you like Elvis?" Darry said with fake surprise. Bridget picked up a shoe and threw it angrily at Darry. You couldn't even hear me laughing anymore; my face was getting red and I couldn't breath. It was all just so breath-takingly funny. Darry loved three things- and Elvis just happened to be one of those things.

"Ha! At least Pone here can laugh at something that was only meant as a joke!" Darry shouted. Bridget shook her head and my laughing started letting up, a single tear streaming down my face. I started to get up and straighten myself out.

"HA! Joke MY FACE!" Bridget cried out. I burst out in laughter again.

"... her face!..." I managed to say before falling to the floor, laughing my head off. I could hear Charlotte and Soda stifle back a giggle; I guess I looked funny while laughing on the floor; plus, like I said before, I hate my laugh, it's awkward. But if you really made me laugh that hard then you couldn't hear me because my laugh was just so high-pitched.

"Yeah, I am joking your face- because it's just that jokable!" Darry said without turning around. I knew what he meant. And I let out another shriek of laughter. I knew he didn't mean to be that mean to her, but it was just playful banter; and to think that this all started out because he had dissed Elvis metaphorically.

Bridget turned around with rage in her eyes and spanked Darry pretty hard. _Glory is that ever a way to shut a guy up_ I thought, trying to keep my laughter to a minimum.

"HEY! Now _that _was uncalled for!" Darry called out. Bridget ignored him and smiled. I finally got up, taking big gulps of air.

"I think you deserved that one, brother dearest..." I said sheepishly. Darry turned around giving me a fake look of hurt. Then he smiled.

"What'd you say?" he locked up on me and began to tickle me. This wasn't good for my system, the laughing, you know? I began to shriek out with laughter, and just flat out screaming. "You're...supposed... to be... on my... SIDE!" he tickled me some more, shifting to different places whenever I turned and protected myself from him.

"Okay I think he's had enough!" I heard Claire say as she walked in through the door. Darry layed off me and messed my hair up.

"Smart-alec traitor..." he muttered as he continued to finish the sandwiches for lunch. I got up and dusted myself off.

"At least Claire helped me up! And she's a PREGNANT person!" I said. Claire looked at me with wide eyes.

"Really? Pregnant person? I don't even get to be catagorized as a girl in this convo?"

"Okay sorry- yeah, scratch that, pregnant LADY!" I screamed. She smiled and patted my shoulder.

"Mhm... That's right Ponyboy..." I went out to the front to find Johnny playing with Jett. He hid his face behind his hands. He looked real funny. I smiled, knowing what was coming up.

"Peek-A-Boo!" He shouted, flashing his face to Jett with a crazed smile on his face. Jett shrieked with laughter and put his small little hands on Johnny's.

"He's so adorable..." I said contently. Johnny looked up at me, that smile still on his face.

"Yeah he is..." Johnny loved Jett more than anything. Him and Claire. I sat down and watched them. Jett looked at me, a little confused. I started getting doubtful of myself and waved at him a little.

"Say, 'hi, Ponyboy!' " Johnny instructed Jett in a lulling tone. Jett looked at me then at his father. He smiled and took a swing at him.

"Whoa there, brother!" I said in a shocked tone. Johnny just laughed it off then took Jett's hand in his and pretended to play wrestling match.

"Wanna go, Jett? Let's do this!" then he pretended to be beat and cried out in defeat.

"Oh no! I've been defeated by the Great Jett!" he cried out in terror. I leaned over to him and cupped my hands around his ear.

"Do you know what this'll do to your rep?" I whispered worryingly. Johnny slapped me away, laughing.

"Way to make me feel bad for letting my son win..." he said, trying to be serious. I let the smile fall off my face and gave him an authentic look of apology.

"I'm sorry..." I said, looking down at the floor.

"Aw, kid I'm just playing with ya!" Johnny said quickly. I punched him in the shoulder.

"I know, but I'm still sorry..." I said nonchalantly.

"What for?" I thought about it.

"I'm not really sure..." I said mysteriously. We all three sat and stared at each other letting that last line sink in.

"Lunch is ready!" Soda's loud voice boomed throughout the whole house, and soon kids were running to the dinner table and hopping on the couch like it was some playground or something. It made me feel real happy. Then Bridget, Soda, and Darry came out with the sandwiches while Charlotte brought out cold glasses filled halfway with lemonade. The kids went crazy, and we all sat down to eat.

* * *

"Hey Darry?" I called out. I was washing dishes down with Bridget in the kitchen; all the other kids had already gone back upstairs to play some more.

"Yeah?" Darry was walking through the door with some more dirty dishes that needed washing down.

"Can I..." I stopped. It was a longshot, the question I was about to ask. Darry turned to me and put his hands around Bridget's waist. Bridget reluctantly smiled and struggled to get out of his grasp.

"Yeah? Can you what?" I looked at him with begging eyes.

"Can I walk to the park?" the happiness in Darry's eyes faltered to seriousness, and he let go of Bridget.

"No," he said flatly, giving me a look. I clasped my hands together.

"Please?" I whimpered. I really wanted to go to the park.

"No!" Darry was getting real angry.

"Why not?" it didn't seem to bother me, at the time, that Paul had broken out of jail.

"You already know! I can't have you or anyone else in this household runnin' around out there without any protection while... you-know-who... is out!" Darry took a dish from Bridget and began to scrub away at it like it was nobody's business. I felt my face getting hot with anger. I wasn't some child who always needed protection and could never protect himself; I'm strong!

"You can't keep treating me like I'm a child!" I replied fiercely. I didn't know what I was talking about or what I was referring to but I knew that what I said was true. Darry did treat me like a child. Darry shot me a look of shock and distress. He put the plate down, sharp enough to let me know how mad he was getting, but gently enough not to break the plate.

"I'm not treating you like a child! I only feel that it is best if you don't get into a situation that would cause some serious harm to you or anyone else!" I smirked and rolled my eyes.

"I can protect myself, you know! I'm not one anymore! I know the basics of self defense!"

"I never said you couldn't! But everyone's got their limit when it comes to things like this!"

"Oh, so now I've got a limit? Is that it?" what was Darry talking about? What kind of a 'limit' was he referring to?

"No! Ponyboy, you were so young. You don't know Paul like I do! You don't know what he's like!" my blood went cold as every single detail of being kidnapped ran through my mind at the speed of light.

"Oh okay so the fact that he locked me up in his closet almost 24/7 while banging on the door to scare me and threatening to beat me doesn't cross your mind? Sedating me in an unknown car and keeping me locked up in the trunk with no food or water? Trying to starve me to death? Beating George up worse than when socs jump greasers just because he talked back? None of that ever occured to you? I know what he's like, Darry, I was the one kidnapped, NOT YOU!" Bridget was staring at me with a sad and hurt expression. She never knew about what exactly happened to me, the only thing she knew was that I was kidnapped at the age of one and hurt real bad in the process. Darry was looking down at the floor with wide eyes. He walked out through the door without saying another word. Bridget looked at me and stroked my hair.

"He only means the best for you..." she said quietly, then went after Darry. I stared at the dishes for a while, knowing what Bridget had been talking about. I hated Paul. Hated him with a burning passion.

Soda walked through the door.

"Hey Ponyboy, what was that all about?" he already knew. I guess he wanted to hear my side of the story; thing was, I didn't want to tell him. He'd take Darry's side, because what I had asked was just too stupid. Besides, he and Darry both understood each other more. I turned and glared at him.

"Like you don't know!" I spat bitterly, then pushed past him rather hard and ran into my room, slamming the door harshly. I threw myself on the bed and pushed a pillow over my face and screamed. I was just angry now.

"STUPID HORMONES!" I screamed into the pillow. But then again...

I thought about Paul. What if Darry was right? I was one back then, what if Paul was holding back because of that? What if he was stronger now- jail can do a lot to a guy, especially one that's too strong for his own good.

I gulped. Darry said I didn't know what he was like.

What was that supposed to mean?

* * *

I opened the door and came out when it was all quiet.

"Hello?" I called up the stairs. No answer. I tried it again.

"HELLO?" still no answer. _Where'd everybody go? _The door suddenly opened and in came Bridget. I sighed in relief.

"Oh, hey Ponyboy!" she said cheerfully, taking her shoes off. She was clutching something to herself with one hand while using the other to take off her last shoe.

"Where'd you go?"

"Oh I was just outside checking the mail," she held up a small stack of envelopes and magazine clippings and waved it in the air. I nodded.

"What about everyone else?"

"Oh, they went off to the grocery store to get a few things. We ran out of eggs and flour, and I was thinking of baking cookies tonight for dinner, that sound okay?" I smiled. I liked Bridget's cookies.

"Yeah... When will they be back?" she thought for a second.

"Ah, soon, I'm sure! They're only getting a couple things..." she said. "You ask a lot of questions, don't you?"

I was caught off guard. "Um, yeah... just wanted to know, that's all..." I started to play with Soda's brown faded coat that was draped over the couch.

"What's wrong?" Bridget had already gone through all the mail and never really looked at the magazine clippings.

"Nothin'..." I sighed. She just shrugged then stalked off into the kitchen humming one of her crazy tunes that no one seems to recognize. I sighed again.

The door knob to the front door all of a sudden started to wriggle about profusely. I jumped, a little startled.

It stopped. I stared at the round golden door knob, wondering if what I had just seen was real or not.

"Hey, Ponyboy!" I heard Bridget call out from the kitchen.

"Yeah?" I didn't dare take my eyes off the door knob. A moment passed by, the door knob still hadn't moved, and Bridget had already come into the living room once more.

"I just wanted to ask you-" the door knob jerked about again, this time refusing to stop. Bridget stopped dead in her tracks and I felt my eyes go wide.

"Pony..." she gripped the back of my shirt tightly and pulled me back. I knew, and she knew too, that anyone in our family would've come in already because they had housekeys. And the doorknob was jerking about real hard. We could hear a deep voice frustratingly cuss things out and then all of a sudden there was a loud bang; the door flung open and hit the back wall with a huge crash. Bridget already had me behind her, but I was trying to get her behind me; I'm the man of the household temporarily whenever Darry or Soda weren't around and so I wasn't about to let my brother's wife put herself in harms way just for me. I had to protect her.

There standing in the doorway was a tall, gruff man with shockingly-cold bronze eyes that penetrated every fiber in my being. I shivered, but still kept a defiant grimace on my face to let him know that I meant business.

"Who are you?" Bridget asked, her voice was shaking. I felt bad for her, she never really gets this scared. The man just smirked and looked at me, smiling. _Oh no... _I thought in horror. I knew who he was. I know what he's was here for.

And I knew that I couldn't stop him.

"Well well well, I don't recognize you, but, oh..." Paul turned toward me and walked forward. I backed up. He smelled worse than anything, and the beard and cracked wrinkles in his face were scaring me. He didn't bat an eye. Bridget put her arm around me and pulled me close. That didn't stop Paul.

He thumbed my cheek slightly. I could feel chills run down my spine and I wanted to slap him away, but his muscles bulged plainly through the tattered jacket he wore, and I didn't want anyone to get hurt. I turned away from him and closed my eyes tightly, biting down on my lip.

"I recognize your face anywhere, Ponyboy..." he whispered. Bridget slapped his hand away from me. He turned from me to her sharply.

"And who is this?" he said mischeviously, he began to stroke Bridget's hair."Hm..."

"You sicken me..." she retorted in disgust, still holding me firmly in her embrace. I was glaring at him now, the anger I had felt before was rising up inside of me. He only chuckled, brushing her comment aside. Then he grabbed me from her. I struggled from getting away from him.

"Hey!" she lunged herself at him and started punching and kicking; he was forced to let me go, so he dropped me to the floor. I got up quickly. Bridget could keep her own pretty well in this fight, but little did I know that that wouldn't last.

Paul threw her down harder than anything making her shriek out in agony. I jumped on him digging my fingers into his neck. He yelled out in pain then slammed me in the wall that was behind us. it knocked the wind out of me and I slid down the wall, gasping, as I looked up at him. Things were spinning around in the room and I was getting to feel real light-headed.

He pulled out a gun. _No... _I thought in mortal fear. I tried to get up but every muscle in my body felt dead, and I only ended up dropping to the floor once again.

**bang**/**bang**/**bang**

Everything went silent. I looked up quickly and saw Bridget; there she lay motionless, faced down on the floor. there was a pool of blood spreading across the floor, and I could see blood trickling down continuously on the back of her head. I just lay there staring at her, I was shaking more than anything. Half of me wanted to throw up, the other half wanted to pass out. Bridget was my friend. She loved me more than anything and she was the only thing that kept Darry sane in this insane world. She did everything for me and always helped me no matter what it was that she was doing.

And now she was gone. Fear crept up my spine and I opened my mouth.

"NO!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, crawling towards my eldest brother's wife. Paul grabbed me before I could check for a pulse and pulled me up, digging the gun into the side of my head, keeping a good grip on my arm.

"She's dead, kid, get over it- and if you make another sound, you're going with her, you got that?" he tightened his grip on me and I had no choice but to silence myself while tears streamed down my face.

He dragged me out and pushed me along, but no matter how much I tried to keep up with him, he wanted more cooperation from me. He pushed, shoved, kicked me around until we got to the park, where there waiting for us was a dark van. Course, he had taken me through the back way through the forest, which made it harder for me to walk through without tripping. He once even pinned me to a tree and slugged the sense out of me before continuing.

The van had a door that was wide open and I was already starting to pass out, so I dropped yet again to the ground. Paul kicked me upwards.

"GET UP!" he hissed. I began to cry even harder. He pulled me up by the collar then pointed the gun at my head. I blinked twice and looked around frantically for someone, anyone, who would help me. That was when I saw her.

Sweet little suzette.

She was walking hand in hand with Soda, and Darry and the rest of the family were right in front of her; but they were so far away. She was laughing and they all seemed to be going in the opposite direction of where I was.

"DARRY!" I yelled. Paul looked up and saw my family; saw Darry. They didn't hear me.

"Oh, shi-" he slapped me across the face to try and shut me up, before dragging me to the car. But I leaned my whole weight into the ground to make myself more time and screamed for Darry again; but this time I didn't stop.

I could faintly see the whole family turn around, but they were too late. Paul threw me in the car and stepped on the gas. Everything swirled around in my mind and I passed out before I could hear Paul cuss me out.


	9. NOTICE

The Outsiders EXPERT-101

July 26th, Tuesday: 2011

WORK IN PROGRESS NOTICE

Hey, guys i am sooo sorry I've got a lot to catch up on but I will be continuing on all my stories and finishing them for you guys 'cause you're all so awesome and have been so patient I love you guys for supporting me in my writing; I've just had other things to get done and I'm trying to plot out the rest of my storylines in ALL of my stories so thanks for waiting!

Personal apologies for those who asked me to write stories for them I will get to that and after all is done I've got a little surprise for you all so thanks for reading!

3Britt


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